A Growing Equation
by IrenaAdler
Summary: Takes place 2 years after A Family Found. Charlie and Colby expand their family. Finished! Part 17 of 17, Charlie and Colby try to bring Gabriel home quietly.
1. The Math Doesnt Always Help

**Part 1 – The Math Doesn't Always Help — **

It was the day after Nena's seventh birthday and Charlie couldn't stop thinking. True, he'd had trouble stopping thinking since he'd been born, but it was usually about math or the universe or something else. Now he couldn't stop thinking about children. Or child, rather. A child. Singular. His child.

Charlie sighed and picked up a piece of chalk. He had to get this figured out. Colby had been patient with his distraction, but was starting to get concerned. Charlie hadn't told Colby what he'd been obsessing about. How could he when he didn't understand it himself? Charlie started an equation to describe his life on the farthest left of all the chalkboards in his garage and set out.

_First, to define 'child'. _  
Nena had been wonderful to see grow the last two years and he considered her his stepdaughter, but he couldn't help but wonder about her first five years. What had she been like? What had been her first word, first sentence? Had she crawled or rolled? Who had been there when she took her first steps? Babies still scared him, but he was more used to them now. He'd gotten quite comfortable with Ojas, Amita's baby boy.

_Then, to describe his life in a neat, orderly schema, taking into account each significant aspect at a time. _  
Why would he want to mess with his good life? Everything was settled, happy. Colby was wonderful – they'd gotten officially married last year when California had legalized it. Then the federal government had unlegalized it and put their marriage in legal limbo, but it didn't matter. They knew they were married. Colby was finally comfortable and in tune with the FBI team again. It had taken a long time to come back from that Janus List nightmare, a time of Charlie's life that he'd prefer to forget. But things were good at the FBI now. David and Don had recovered as well and the team was as tight as ever, tighter even, and Charlie was part of that team. Don had been offered promotion twice but had passed it by, concerned that he'd turn into a desk jockey. David too had passed over a promotion that involved him going to San Diego. He'd said he was an LA boy now and he was staying, but Charlie would bet it had more to do with his housemate, Matt. Megan had taken her promotion, but she still worked in the same office and Charlie saw her regularly when Larry came over to the house. Larry had very slowly worked his way back into the real world and had found Megan there waiting for him. They seemed happy. Now Don's team had a new fourth member – Fi-don't-call-me-Fiona. She was as different from Megan as it was possible to be, but somehow she worked out. It was an open secret that she and David were seeing each other outside the office.

_Next, quantify other important relationships_.  
Don and Will were doing great as well. Especially now that Will wasn't doing as much dangerous undercover work. He still did, sometimes, just to keep his skills sharp, but he'd found a second calling as a teacher to young DEA recruits. A lot of what made Will good at undercover was instinctual, but Will managed to convey a lot of it to his students. He was proud that none of his students had been killed in the line of duty, yet. Don and Will had gotten married too, during that brief period of legality, and for a wedding present, Will's parents – well, Will's dad – had sold them Will's house for cheap. Will had promptly remodeled the kitchen to something a gourmet chef would admire and Don had built a solarium. They now had a second Maine Coon, Dragon, who was five pounds lighter than Monster but twice as much trouble. They were helping Billy Cooper build a house out in the woods, but weren't telling anyone where.

_Followed by environmental variables. _  
Charlie's home life was pleasantly chaotic. Alan's consulting work had taken off and he seemed happier than he had since Charlie's mom had died. Alan even had a steady girlfriend, though he'd claim they were just good friends … with benefits – something Charlie tried not to think about. Nena's mother, Jenny, also had a friend with benefits, but this one had moved in with Jenny and didn't really like kids. Consequently, Nena's time with Colby had continually increased, until they had her, at the moment, approximately 73 of the time, though she was in school now, as well. Every day she seemed to get smarter and more wonderful – more stubborn too.

_Add relevant experiential data._  
Amita and her Physics Department husband had just had their baby boy eight months ago. Charlie was pleased that he and Amita were finally good friends again, now that they had their own strong relationships. Charlie had found it fascinating to follow little Ojas's progress and, though Amita didn't really appreciate it, note where Ojas was 'ahead' or 'behind.' Charlie and Colby had even babysat Ojas once, and Charlie had managed to change his diaper without vomiting, though just barely.

… _And in conclusion we have …_  
Charlie stared at the four chalkboards he'd filled up with numbers. The conclusion of the math was, quite inescapably, that even thinking about adding a second child to his life, let alone a baby, was sheer lunacy.  
_But, still …_

Charlie dropped the chalk with a tired sigh. He hadn't been able to sleep well since this problem had started nagging at him. He sank into the battered popasan chair and gazed vacantly towards the ceiling. He let his mind wander, hoping for something useful from his unconscious, though he hated the mushiness of psychology.

If Nena had taught him one thing, it was that logic and rationality weren't always relevant when it came to kids. 'Charlie, get out of your brain sometimes,' she'd say. 'Think with your nose or your fingers or your right kidney.' If he told her that that was impossible, she'd reply, 'That's the point!' But he should make life decisions with his brain … right? Not with his heart, which for some reason longed for a child of his own like the answer to all of the impossible math questions ever asked.

All his life he'd been accused of being selfish, self-centered, often with cause. Was it self-centered to want a baby that shared his genes? Or did he just want a baby? Men didn't have a 'biological clock,' did they? And of all people, Charlie Eppes was not the sort to raise a child. He'd forget about feeding time while he was in the middle of an interesting problem. He could hardly remember to feed and clothe himself, how did he expect to do so for someone else, someone helpless without him?

Tired and frustrated that his heart refused to acknowledge that his brain had just proved it was a bad idea, Charlie closed his eyes.

His mother walked around the corner of the chalkboard. "It's about time you slept, honey," she said.

"Mom," Charlie said hoarsely. "Tell me what to do?"

"You know I can't do that," Margaret said with a warm smile. She pushed a lock of hair away from his face. Her touch was so real.

"I wasn't sure I ever wanted kids, myself," she continued quietly. "And perhaps the decision to go ahead and do so wasn't rational, but I regretted it for maybe two seconds altogether of the rest of my life. Kids aren't for everyone and I know in your life that you've seen many people that should never have had kids. God knows I saw that in the courtroom. Maybe instead of thinking about what bringing a child into your life would do to your world, think about what you have to offer to a child."

Charlie frowned thoughtfully.

"And Charlie," Margaret said with gentle reproach. "You're not the only one in this decision. You should talk to your husband."

Charlie stared up at her, unable to ask the question lodged in his throat.

"Yes, honey," she said, her smile as warm as the afternoon sun. "I like Colby a lot. He's a wonderful man and I'm very happy for you."

"I'm glad," Charlie said and opened his eyes to sunlight streaking across his chalkboards. The sunlight chopped up the equations, forming new and bright patterns out of the math of his life.

Charlie pushed himself out of the chair and went to talk to Colby.


	2. Charlies Distraction

**Part 2— Charlie's Distraction**

Colby sat on the couch, dozing in the afternoon sun. The lineup sheet he was trying to write for Nena's next Little League game was still blank. He hadn't been able to stop yawning, though being the coach for Nena's team was usually a fun thing. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, since Charlie hadn't been. Charlie had something bothering him and Colby hoped that he'd work himself up to talking to Colby about it soon.

Colby was not only sleeping poorly because of it, he was also starting to get nervous. With Charlie it was impossible to tell how significant the issue might be. Charlie had agonized for days before telling Colby that he wanted something other than pancakes for Sunday brunch. Another time, Charlie had stewed a long while before announcing that he wanted to move to Alaska to study fluid dynamics in glaciers, before they all melted. Colby had been able to talk Charlie out of Alaska and had changed the usual Sunday food, but until he knew the problem, he couldn't deal with it. And he couldn't relax, either.

"Humph," Nena said loudly from nearby and Colby opened his eyes. He looked over to where Nena was standing next to an easel, a smear of blue paint on her cheek, but she wasn't talking to him. Instead, she was staring with a frown at her latest painting. Colby couldn't see what she was painting, but it probably wouldn't make a difference if he could – he wouldn't know what it was anyway. Nena had explained many times that she tried to paint 'feelings,' but to Colby the paintings just looked like colorful messes. Not that that stopped him from proudly displaying them all over the house and at work. Nena stepped back from her standing easel and reached for a new tube of paint. Alan had gone overboard last time he'd been at the art supplies store, no doubt hoping that they had a budding Georgia O'Keefe on their hands. Colby didn't know how long Nena's interest in painting would last, but at least she wasn't playing video games.

He'd almost dozed off again when he heard the outside door opening. He looked up to see Charlie coming in from the garage, an earnest look on his face. Colby felt a mixture of dread and relief. _Finally, Charlie is ready to tell me what's going on._

"Cole?" Charlie said. "Can I talk to you?"

"Definitely," Colby said with a smile.

Charlie's lips quirked, acknowledging that he'd been distracted. He looked over at Nena and said to Colby, "Can we go outside?"

Colby nodded and set his notepad aside. Suddenly, he was wide awake.

They stepped outside onto the patio and Charlie slid the door shut behind them. Colby pulled up a chair and gazed expectantly at Charlie. Charlie ran his hand through his hair, smearing a line of chalk across his face that looked a lot like Nena's paint smear. Colby gripped his hands together and tried to prepare himself.

But when it came, Colby was stunned.

"Cole?" Charlie asked. "Have you … have you ever thought about having another child?"

Colby's jaw dropped and he stared at Charlie.

"Well?" Charlie prompted.

"Umm," Colby fumbled. "Not really, I mean, Nena wasn't on purpose, though I'm so glad I've got her, but it wasn't … There wasn't any thought involved in it."

"Well, I've been thinking about it a lot," Charlie said, lowering himself into a chair. "Can't stop thinking about it."

"You're thinking about adopting?" Colby asked cautiously.

"No, a genetic child."

Colby felt his eyes bugging out of his head. "But …"

"We'd use a surrogate mother."

"But …"

"We could get an egg donation from the place that has my sperm. They could use my sperm that they already have, unless fresh is better, though—"

"_Charlie_," Colby interrupted with a squeak. "You want to have a _baby_?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, quietly but firmly.

"One night with Ojas does not prepare you to have a baby! Doesn't prepare _me_!" Colby felt panic growing in him. He hadn't been involved in Nena's life, really, until she was almost five. Until she was walking and talking and potty-trained.

"I figure we could get a nanny, or something," Charlie said.

"You … you want to have a baby then hire someone else to care for it? What's the point?"

Charlie glared at him. "You didn't raise Nena from a baby. What was the point with her?"

"I didn't have a choice about that!" Colby snapped. "Jenny wouldn't let me be involved!"

"I know," Charlie held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Sorry, I just … I just want a baby. My own baby. Eppes genes."

Colby stared at him, dazed. Maybe they should have moved to Alaska, after all.


	3. Thinking About It

**Part 3 – Thinking About It**

"So … That's a 'no?'" Charlie said sadly.

"Huh? No!"

Charlie brightened. "So it's a 'yes?'"

"Charlie! You don't just … _decide_ on this sort of thing! Maybe you've been thinking about it a while, but I haven't. Give me a minute!"

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled.

"Actually," Colby said. "Give me a week to think about it. We'll talk in a week, okay? And don't tell anybody, _especially_ your father, that you're thinking about this!"

Charlie gave an unhappy nod then turned and went into the house. Colby sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. _Dear God … Hopefully it will blow over, like the Alaska thing._ But did he want it to blow over? He'd always regretted missing Nena's early years … The surge of panic the idea had given him still had his heart pounding in his chest. But … Colby looked through the patio door at Nena, who was explaining her latest artwork to Charlie. _Give it a week, Granger. See what you think in a week._

* * *

It was a long week. Colby thought about it non-stop and, though Charlie didn't actually mention it, his hopeful looks were getting on Colby's nerves. Colby loved giving Charlie anything his heart desired, but this had to be thought through much more thoroughly.

Six days from the day that Charlie had first talked about it, Colby went for his morning run. Then, instead of heading for the shower, he slipped into the Solarium and shut the door. He settled himself on the rug in the classic lotus position and closed his eyes. He was going to try a technique that had been taught to him by Dr. Fox, his shrink.

_Okay, I'm gonna divide myself into PositiveColby and NegativeColby. _

_Go._

The negative voice came instantly. _Why would you possibly want a baby? Don't have enough stress in your life?_

The positive voice was a little slower to respond, but no less clear. _We could offer a baby a lot. A loving home, an extended family, a big sister._

_Then why don't you adopt a baby from China or something?_

_That wouldn't fulfill Charlie's desire to have a baby with Eppes genes._

_Talk about pride! 'I'm such a genius that I can't deprive the next generation of my genes'_

_Well, maybe that's true. And it's not just Charlie that will be passed on, it's his parents and grandparents, the whole Eppes line. Don's not interested in having a child, even ignoring the logistical difficulties._

_Oh yeah, _those_ difficulties. The ones you're gonna have. Planning on cruising the Internet for a surrogate mother? And then you could just have Charlie knock her up the old-fashioned way. Isn't that a pleasant thought …_

_It can be done in a more clinical way, with donor eggs and stuff. I'm sure there are some geniuses in that fancy gene bank that could be used to make a double genius._

_Yikes, a 'double genius.' As if having one genius in your life isn't trouble enough._

_The baby might not be a genius, just incredibly smart like Nena._

_Charlie would be upset if a child of his doesn't blow the lid off an IQ test._

_That's not true. _

_Isn't it?_

… _I don't think so. And there's more to Charlie than just his IQ test. Some part of Charlie would be passed on to a baby, and even if the baby gets all of Charlie's worst characteristics, I'm sure it would get some of the good ones, too._

_So it would be 'Charlie's Baby,' not yours._

_That's true but not true. Charlie is Nena's daddy, too, and he's only been in her life two years. A baby would be raised by both of us from the beginning._

_Do you have any idea how much work a baby is? Charlie isn't going to be much help unless you give him instructions and an alarm clock. _

_He'll help. And there will be others, too. It won't be all my job. Alan's here and I know that Don and Will would be willing to help on occasion. And we can hire a nanny._

_Right, with what money? And speaking of money, how in the hell are you going to be able to afford a surrogate? That's huge money!_

_If we decide that this is what we want, we'll find a way._

_What, have a bake sale?_

_If we have to._

_And the costs of raising another child. You don't make enough at the FBI._

_I make enough. Plenty of people get by on less. And it's not like mine's the only income. Charlie makes a decent living plus his grants, awards and royalty checks._

_Chump change. Do you have any idea how much college will be in 18 years?_

_We'll get by. Having a baby isn't about if you're rich enough._

Colby sat, breathing deeply, his eyes closed, and waited for the next thought to surface.

_It's just stupid._

_Running out of arguments?_

_Well, I think you've already decided that you want to go ahead._

… _Maybe I have._

Colby opened his eyes and smiled.


	4. Consulting Nena

**Part 4 –Consulting Nena**

Colby found Nena in her room, reading J. K. Rowling's latest book. He was thrilled that Nena's reading level continued to far outstrip her age and grade level. She was better than average in the rest of her academics, but not as spectacularly. It was a source of embarrassment to her that she was 'just good' at math. Nothing that Colby or Charlie could say would make her understand that just being around one of the world's top mathematicians didn't make you a mathematician. Nor should it. Colby adored Nena as she was, with her creativity and imagination, her stubbornness and moods, her outgoing behavior and quick mind. What would another baby be like? He hoped just as wonderful.

"Sweetie?" he asked. "Wanna go for a walk?"

Nena didn't even look up from her book. "I'm readin'."

"Please?"

She heaved a dramatic sigh and put a bookmark in her book. There were some teenage mannerisms that she already had down pat, even though she was only seven.

As soon as they were walking down the sidewalk, though, Nena reverted to the skipping, happy child she usually was. Colby let her run ahead of him as they got near the park. She dashed to the swings and lay on her stomach in the swing. She pushed off with her legs and made fighter pilot noises.

Colby smiled and followed. He sat down in the grass near the swings and leaned on the metal support for the rope bridge. He waited until Nena got tired of the swing, then motioned her to come and sit by him. She came and plopped down in the grass next to him.

Colby pushed hair out of Nena's face.

"I love you, Nena-bear," he said tenderly.

She frowned. "I love you too, Daddy Daddy. Is somethin' wrong?"

"Nope," Colby said. "Just need to talk to you about something."

Nena's eyes widened anxiously. She pressed her lips together and waited.

"Honey, what would you think about getting a baby brother or sister?"

Nena blinked at him. "How?"

Colby swallowed. "Umm …" He'd hoped to avoid this particular conversation.

"All you got is a boywife, you need a mommy."

Colby looked at her uneasily. "Do you know where babies come from?"

"'Course, I do!" Nena said with seven-year-old contempt.

"Umm, tell me?"

Nena rolled her eyes, but said, "A mommy and a daddy take a piece of themselves – a piece of the heart is best – and put it inside the mommy's tummy where the pieces mush together like playdough and make a baby shape. The baby grows and grows inside the mommy's tummy, which protects it like an egg, you know, until it's too big for the mommy's tummy then she goes to a doctor and gets it taken out and you have a baby."

"Ah, oh, I see, okay," Colby said with relief. It was close enough to the truth that he could leave it at that. He wondered where Nena had gotten that idea.

Nena picked up a piece of grass and fiddled with it. "So … is Mommy gonna be the mommy?"

"_No_," Colby snapped, horrified at the image of Jenny being the mother of Charlie's child, then tried to soften his reaction with a smile. "No, honey, we haven't got the details worked out yet."

"But …"

"Nena," Colby said firmly before she could start asking more questions that he didn't have the answers for. "What you and I need to talk about how you'd feel about bringing a new baby into our family."

Nena started to shred her piece of grass. "Boy or girl?"

"Would it make a difference?"

"Guess not …"

"Would you like to be a big sister?"

"I don't know … maybe. Would the baby live part time with his mommy?"

"Nope, he or she would be our baby all the time."

"Oh," Nena said, frowning. She ripped apart her piece of grass and got another.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"He'll be more yours and Charlie's than I am."

Colby shook his head and put his arm around her. "We've talked about why I have to share you with your mom, but I still consider you 100 my girl. Even if we have another kid, Charlie and me won't love you any less than we do now. Love doesn't work that way."

Nena mumbled, "Mommy got Mark and she doesn't love me as much anymore."

"Oh, honey," Colby said, giving her a big hug. "Mommy just wants to spend time with her new boyfriend. She doesn't love you less, she's just … distracted."

Nena made a skeptical sound.

"Believe it," Colby said firmly. "But back to what I was asking about – You're a big part of our family and I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first, _before_ Charlie and I start talking details."

"Would I have to share my bedroom?"

"I don't think so, we'll probably take over the guest bedroom."

"Would we still have Daddy-n-Nena time?"

"Of course!"

"Would I have to take care of stinky diapers?"

"We'd like it if you helped, but you can help in less stinky ways."

"Like what?"

"Like doing your homework without being bugged five times."

Nena grimaced. "Homework is boring."

"I know, honey, but that's school for you."

She ran her fingers through the grass. "Would the baby be any fun?"

"Once he or she is old enough."

"Can I … can I teach him how to paint and fish and … play Fed?"

"That's a big sister's job," Colby grinned. "To teach their little brothers and sisters stuff. And to get them in trouble and protect them from trouble, to talk you into stealing apples from the neighbor's orchard, then go get help when you sprain your ankle."

Nena smiled at him. "That's what your big sister did?"

"Yep, that and lots of other stuff," Colby said with a wistful smile. He hadn't talked to Eve in years. "She was always getting me into trouble and out of it, then back in it."

"Cool," Nena said. "She's my Aunt Eve, right? But your family doesn't like Charlie so they don't talk to you?"

Colby flushed. "Right."

"Then they're stupid," she said.

Colby had to laugh at that.

"Okay," Nena said finally. "I think it's okay for you to get me a baby brother or sister."

"Great!" Colby said, beaming at her. Until she'd given it, he hadn't realized how important her agreement was to him.

"Now," Nena asked doggedly. "Where are you going to get the mommy?"


	5. Mommy Confusion

**Part 5 – Mommy Confusion**

"Megan's really nice," Nena said as Colby opened the door to their home. "What about her?"

"Nena, I said drop it," Colby grumbled.

"Or Amita!"

"_Not_ Amita," Colby snapped.

"So who—"

"Nena," Colby said, for what felt like the twelfth time in the last five minutes, "Don't worry about the mommy yet, please?"

"What mommy?" Charlie asked, standing by the entry table with a handful of mail.

"Mommy?" Alan asked, coming in from the other side. "Whose mommy?"

Charlie's face lit up. "Cole, do you mean that you're okay, you want to?"

"Amita makes good babies, we know already," Nena said.

"Amita?" Charlie asked, his face turning confused.

"What's this about Ojas?" Alan asked.

"No, not Oh-jus," Nena said. "A different baby."

"A second baby?" Alan asked. "Amita's pregnant again already?"

"Wait!" Colby said loudly. The other three stared at him. He took a deep breath. "Nena, please go read your book for now. Alan, we'll talk to you in a minute. Charlie, could we talk in the family room, please?"

"Don't want to read my book," Nena whined. At Colby's face, she added quickly, "I'll go outside."

"I'll, uh, go into the kitchen," Alan said, his eyes bright with curiosity.

"Thank you," Colby said, as calmly as he could. He took Charlie's arm and steered him towards the couch.

"Cole?" Charlie asked cautiously. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, Charlie," Colby said with a smile. "I know I'm a day early, but I've been thinking hard about it and I mean it, I want us to have a baby."

"Yes!" Charlie said, throwing his arms around Colby.

"It's gonna be a lot of work, Charlie," Colby warned. "You have no idea. Hell, _I _have no idea."

"I know, I know," Charlie said, pulling back from his hug to show a huge grin. "I know, I just think … I just think it's right."

"Yeah," Colby said, feeling an answering grin on his face. "It feels right to me, too."

"But … Amita?" Charlie asked uneasily.

"No, no," Colby said quickly. "That's Nena, she's trying to figure out who the mommy is gonna be."

"Oh …" Charlie said. "She knows we need a mommy?"

"Well, she has a kind of interesting view of the process, involving play-dough and doctors, but yeah, she knows we need a mommy."

"Well," Charlie said, "That's really the next issue that …"

"What?" came a loud shout from the kitchen and out stormed Alan, Nena on his heels.

"Charlie got Amita pregnant?" Alan demanded. "What the Hell?"

"What?" Charlie gaped.

"I'm gonna strangle you!"

Charlie jumped up from the couch. "No, Dad, wait, no!"

Colby couldn't help it, he burst into laughter.

Alan glared at him and Colby laughed harder.

"I said Megan too!" Nena insisted.

"You got Megan pregnant, too?" Alan said with horror.

Charlie caught Colby's eye and began to laugh, too.

"What on God's Green Earth makes this a laughing matter?" Alan shouted.

Charlie and Colby fell on each other, laughing so hard tears were coming down their faces. Nena began to giggle and clap.

Finally, the absurdity of Nena's claims seemed to sink in to Alan and he smiled wryly. "Okay, alright, sorry for jumping to wild conclusions, but could somebody explain to me what's going on?"

Colby nodded and managed to gather himself together, wiping his cheeks. "Sorry, Alan, but you should have seen your face, and Charlie acting like a teenager in trouble."

Alan shrugged, his face now red with embarrassment.

Colby sobered up. Telling Alan was going to be a big step towards committing to this.

"Have a seat, everybody," Colby said.

Once everyone had taken a seat – Alan on the chair, Nena on the coffee table, Charlie and Colby on the couch – Colby took Charlie's hand.

"Do you want to explain, Charlie?" Colby asked.

"Go ahead?" Charlie pleaded.

Colby nodded, figuring as much. "So, Alan, Charlie and I would like to make you a grandfather again."

Alan's eyebrows shot up. "How?"

"Well, we haven't figured out all the details yet, but we're planning on using Charlie's …" Colby's eyes strayed to Nena. "Charlie's genetic material and a donor for the … female genetic material, possibly from the same place that Charlie donated his genetic material to. We're thinking surrogacy for the pregnancy."

Alan's eyes had grown wider as Colby talked and now his mouth was a big 'O'.

"Daddy," Nena said in frustration. "What are those words?"

"What it means," Colby said carefully, "Is that we're going to go to a special place where mommies who want to help people like us have saved pieces of their … pieces of their hearts. We'll go there and take Charlie's piece of his heart and this mommy's and put them in another mommy's tummy where they will make a baby and she'll protect it and take care of it until it's time for the doctor to take it out."

"Two mommies?" Nena blinked. "There's a mommy store?"

Colby hid a smile. "Sort of. But it's not about money, it's a place where mommy-less families, or families with sick mommies, can get a baby."

"Ohhh," Nena said thoughtfully.

"A surrogate?" Alan asked. "Don't they always end in custody cases?"

"I don't think so," Colby said. "But we've just began to talk about this. We haven't done the research and figured out the details, but … we want to do it. We want to have and raise an Eppes baby."

"Wow," Alan said, rubbing his face. "Wow."

"Yeah …" Colby agreed.

"What's next?"

Colby met Charlie's eyes and said, "Well, we need to get your agreement, since you live here."

"Are you kidding?" Alan asked. "You've got it. Then what?"

Colby smiled at Alan's eagerness. He'd probably forgotten how much work a newborn was. "Next is research, I guess."

Charlie said, "I need to phone that place – 'Repository for Genitive Diversity' I think it was called."

"And I want to talk to Don and Will, too," Colby said, squeezing Charlie's hand. "This is gonna be a family project, in the most literal sense possible."

Nena said, "And I wanna go to the mommy store!"


	6. Expanding the Team

**Part 6 – Expanding the Team**

Don opened the door to his family's house and let the cats dart in ahead of him. They went straight to his dad and began meowing. Alan dutifully turned to go get them some of the cat-safe milk.

"You'd think we don't feed them," Will said, coming in behind him and closing the door.

"No, they're just spoiled," Don said with a smile. He looked around for Charlie or Colby. He was curious about this last-minute dinner invitation that had come from Colby instead of Alan as usual. He didn't see Nena, either, though he knew she was in residence by the pink backpack near the front door.

After they stowed their guns in the safe, Don and Will went into the kitchen. Charlie, Colby and Alan were putting together dinner.

"So what's up?" Don asked. "If Dad invites us to dinner, we haven't been around in too long and he's got extra brisket. If Charlie invites us, he wants to pick our brains about something. If Colby invites us …" He looked at Will. "Not sure he ever has."

"Busted," Colby said. "We might as well just tell you. Charlie, you get to do this one."

"But you do so well—"

Colby just raised his eyebrows and Charlie relented. Don would have to get Colby to teach him that trick.

But Charlie's next words knocked that thought right out of his head.

"Me and Colby are going to have a baby."

Don stared at him then began to smile. "Buddy, I think you need a biology lesson." He smiled wider, remembering Will saying ages ago that he'd tried to get Don pregnant to invoke a shotgun wedding.

"Seriously?" Will asked.

"Yes," Charlie said.

Don's smile vanished. "Whoa, wait, _seriously_?"

"Adoption?" Will asked.

"Nope," Charlie said, "A genetic child, an _Eppes_ baby."

"Whoa …" Don said, at a loss for anything else to say. "How? Cloning?"

"No, not cloning – egg and sperm, the usual."

"Not usual at all …" Don said.

"Are you sure about this?" Will asked.

Colby and Charlie both nodded firmly.

There was a stunned silence and Don leaned against the counter. He looked over at his father, who had been silent. "Wow, Dad, you're gonna be a grandfather again."

"That's right," Alan said with a smile.

"Ha!" Will said. "I called it!"

Don eyed him then began to laugh. "Oh, no, you're not claiming this one. You thought it was Dragon!"

"I didn't say I was _sure_ …" Will said with a smug grin. "Hindsight counts."

"It does not!"

"What's this?" Alan asked.

Don said, "Oh, Will had a dream a while ago – six months? – where Mom told him that there was gonna be a new grandchild."

"Really?" Charlie said. "And you thought it was your cat?"

"Well," Will shrugged. "She said the child would be a handful and Dragon certainly is."

"Did she say boy or girl?" Colby asked.

Will shook his head. "Nope, she was mostly there to tell me to get the Hell out of undercover work before I got myself killed."

Alan smiled sadly. "Yeah, that sounds like something she'd say."

"And you did get out," Charlie said, "Into teaching."

"I still go under sometimes," Will protested.

Don hid a grimace. This was a sore point between them and he really didn't want to bring that argument up tonight.

"C'mon, guys, tell me more about this baby plan," he said instead.

"It's not really a plan yet," Charlie said. "More like a, uh …"

"Statement of intent," Alan supplied.

"And that intent is?" Don asked.

Colby answered, "Charlie's sperm, a donor egg, surrogate mother, then, voilà, baby."

"Then diapers, spit-up, and no sleep," Will said.

"Yep," Colby smiled.

"We're already moving ahead, though," Charlie said. "I talked today with that clinic in Oregon."

"What clinic?" Don asked.

"Oh," Charlie said. "Guess I never told you about that. A while ago, I donated to a sperm bank that's collecting genetic material of humanity's 'best and brightest.'"

"How'd you get asked then?" Don responded, the tease coming automatically.

"Sounds kind of … Eugenics," Will said uneasily.

"That was the Nazi science about creating the 'perfect race'?" Don asked.

"Yeah," Will said.

"I was worried about that too," Charlie said quickly. "But I checked it out very thoroughly and so did Millie, and you know she can find out anything about anybody."

"But maybe you could check them out, too?" Will asked Don.

"Run an FBI check?" Don asked. "I could probably run a basic check without needing to justify it."

Will nodded.

"That's a great idea!" Charlie said. "Because Colby and I are going to fly up there on Monday to meet with them." He looked at Don. "That's if Colby's boss will give him the time off."

"Sure, of course," Don said.

"That was easy," Colby smiled.

"Probably the only part of this that's gonna be easy," Don replied.

Colby shrugged.

"Wow, a baby," Don said. "They don't start out walking and talking and feeding themselves, you know, Charlie."

"I know that," Charlie snapped. "But there's books, I can figure it out."

Alan snorted and shook his head.

Colby smiled wryly. "So, guys, can we count on you to help out?"

"Uhh," Don said, meeting Will's alarmed look with one of his own. "How much help out?"

"Just occasionally take care of the baby or something. We're hoping to be able to afford to hire a nanny, but the surrogacy could cost a ton of money."

"Umm," Don said with a half-shrug, "How can we say 'no'? It'll be family. But we'll just be backups, _occasional_ backups, right?"

"Right," Colby smiled. "But they say it takes a whole village to raise a child."

"What village?" Charlie asked, startled. "We don't live in a village. Do we need to live in a village?"

Don chuckled at Charlie's anxious expression and turned to Charlie's husband. "Colby, you really don't take the easy road in life, do you?"

Colby smirked. "Naw."

The oven dinged and Alan pulled out a roast chicken that smelled wonderful. There was a sudden hustle of food and plates. Don and Will cleared out of the kitchen and went to claim their chairs.

"A baby …" Will said in astonishment.

"A Charlie Junior …" Don replied, equally stunned. "What if the kid's a genius, too?"

Colby came out of the kitchen, holding a salad bowl, and called up the stairs. "Nena, dinner's ready! The book will still be there when you're done."

"Hey, Don," Will said quietly, "I know how you can justify running an FBI check on that clinic."

"How?"

"So they have Charlie's sperm, and women could be using it to have babies, right?"

"Right …" Don said, always wary when Will was wearing this particular wicked expression.

"In theory, there could be hundreds of little Charlies and Charlenes all over the place by now."

"Yeah …"

"That has to be investigated," Will grinned. "Sounds like bioterrorism to me!"


	7. TwoWay Interview

**Part 7 – Two-way Interview**

Mary Sills was tired of people not understanding what she did. She'd gotten every reaction from horror to disgust to disbelief to envy to sympathy. 'How could you possibly carry someone else's child in your womb?' 'I wouldn't be able to give it up.' 'Maybe God made those people childless for a reason'. 'You get to sit around and grow fat for nine months then get paid? Easy money!'

It really came down to two things - she was good at being pregnant and she liked helping people have a family. Yes, the money was good, but anyone who did it just for the money would seriously regret it. And certainly not be ready to meet the prospective parents of her third surrogacy.

Smoothing down her dress, Mary wondered who would come through that door. She'd made it clear to the clinic that she wasn't restrictive on race, religion, or shape of family. Her first intended parents had been an Indian couple, the husband's reproductive capabilities wiped out by cancer. She'd carried a child made from the wife's egg and donor sperm and had given them a spectacular baby boy. She got reports from that family every six months and couldn't be prouder of making their happiness possible.

Her second surrogacy had been for a single woman, who for some medical reason couldn't carry her own child. The little girl that she'd given that mother was the cutest, luckiest little girl ever and would grow up to steal hearts and Nobel prizes.

Now she was recovered from that pregnancy, plus taken a year off to just be with her own two children, and had now signed up for Surrogacy number three. Sitting in the posh meeting room, she tried to ready herself for whatever was to come.

Still, she was unprepared for who did come through that door – two men. One was big, blond, and muscular. A policeman, perhaps? The other was slim with a tangle of dark, curly hair and a very Jewish nose. He looked like a high school teacher. They were both wearing suits, which made Mary glad that she'd dressed up herself. This was an important meeting and she was glad that the men seemed to appreciate that. With an eye conditioned by fashion magazines, Mary decided that the blond wore a suit for his job – his suit was well-fitting but not flashy. Maybe a lawyer. The brunet looked less comfortable in his suit, though the sports jacket seemed well-worn. High school teacher was looking very likely.

Both men smiled at her nervously and held out their hands at the same time. The brunet pulled back his hand awkwardly and motioned for the blond to go ahead. The quick, wry, but understanding smile that the blond shot his partner immediately endeared him to Mary.

"Hi," the blond said, his large hand easily eclipsing Mary's, "I'm Colby Granger. This is my husband, Charles Eppes."

"Not technically 'husband,'" the brunet stammered. "Since the federal government struck down California's Equal Marriage Law." He held out his hand. "But yes, I'm Dr. Charles Eppes, uh, Charles Eppes, uh, Charlie." His grip on Mary's hand was firm but sweaty.

"I'm Mary Sills," Mary said with a smile. "Glad to meet you."

All three of them sat down in the cushioned chairs and looked at each other. This was a two-way interview and a great deal hinged on it.

"So," Mary said, her tone lightly teasing. "What brings you here?"

The blond – Colby – said, "We want to add a child to our family."

"A baby," the brunet – Charlie – clarified. "You know, small, starting from the beginning."

Mary smiled at Charlie. "That's how they usually start."

"Yeah, well, um, not Nena," Charlie said then corrected himself, "Well, I'm sure she _did_ start small but not to me, not that observationally that would have made a difference but—"

"Charlie," Colby interrupted with practiced ease. "Take a deep breath. If she was going to say 'no' because we're guys, she would have already done it."

"Are you?" Charlie asked Mary, his big brown eyes unnervingly direct.

"No," Mary said firmly. "Now, tell me about yourselves."

"Actually," Mary said before they could speak, deciding to use a technique she'd found very telling in these interviews. "Tell me about each other."

"Uh," Colby said, meeting Charlie's eyes. "Okay. Charlie is a professor of Applied Mathematics at CalSci. He went to Princeton at 13, his IQ is out of the stratosphere and there are about 10 people in the world who can understand the math he can do. He's not just smart, though, he's a really good teacher, can teach math to even thick-heads like me. He's also very sweet." Colby flushed a little, obviously not used to talking about things like this. "He's got huge depths of emotion and energy and love. He makes the world a brighter place by just being in it."

Charlie beamed at him.

"He's also a slob, terribly absent-minded and easily distracted," Colby continued wryly. "But we've been able to work around those with Nena. As long as we use a schedule and alarm clocks, he's good at the daddy thing, too."

"Daddy thing?" Mary asked, startled.

Colby smiled. "Oh, Nena's our little girl, she's seven now. She's mine from a previous relationship. I wasn't allowed to be involved in her life much in the early years but, since she was about 5, she's lived half-time with us, though lately it's been more of …" He looked at Charlie.

"73.62 of the time, at an estimate," Charlie responded promptly.

"So almost three-quarters of the time now. She'll make a great big sister, she's very excited about it."

"Do you have a picture?" Mary asked.

"Yeah, sure," Colby said, pulling out his wallet. He handed her a picture of a smiling girl with her father's hair and eyes.

"She's lovely," Mary said, handing the picture back.

"Yeah, she's great," Colby said, smiling. "She's smart and creative and reads way above her age group. She loves to paint and play sports and scare the he—the heck out of her Grandpa by running around with her toy gun, playing 'Fed.'"

Mary blinked. "Doing what?"

"Oh, I'm a—"

"My turn," Charlie interrupted. He put on what immediately struck Mary as a 'teacher's face.' "Colby Granger grew up in Winchester, Idaho, middle child in a large family of eight children. His father died when he was fifteen."

"She doesn't care about that," Colby grumbled.

Charlie held up his hand, in full lecture mode. "He went to Penn State University on a wrestling scholarship, but while there, joined the Army, making him the fifth generation in his family to enter the armed forces. He graduated with a degree in Criminal Science and joined the Army CID – that's Criminal Investigation Command, and served in Afghanistan. He received an Honorable Discharge from the Army and came to work at the Los Angeles office of the FBI, which is where I met him. He is an excellent field agent, been commended multiple times."

Mary smiled. "Dr. Eppes, how about something more personal?"

"Uh, oh, yeah. Call me Charlie." He reached over and took Colby's hand. "Cole is strong – and I'm not just talking about physically, though he is that too, obviously. He's loyal and tenacious – Do you know he worked for two years as a counter-counter-counter intelligence agent in the FBI without anyone knowing before taking down a huge Chinese spy?"

"Oh," Mary said faintly.

"Personal," Colby reminded Charlie quietly.

"Oh, right. He's very patient, which you can tell, too. He's a great Dad to Nena and will be great with a baby. He's just a rock, both physically and metaphorically again, my anchor and comfort. He's smarter than people expect when they see us. He makes me feel safe and secure."

She hid a smile, amused how most things that Charlie said about Colby were actually about Charlie. Colby gave her a knowing wink and Mary decided that she liked these two very much.

"I'm a little concerned about your job, Mr. Granger," Mary said. "What would a child do if you were hurt or even killed?"

Charlie grimaced but Colby squeezed his hand. "Please, call me Colby. I hope that nothing like that happens to me, but I know that a child would be taken care of. It's not just me and Charlie, we have lots of family support. Charlie and I live with Charlie's father, Alan, who helps us with Nena already. Charlie's brother Don and his husband – yeah, them too – they live nearby and are very involved in Nena's life. Don's my boss at the FBI – which is how I met Charlie, and Will's DEA, but just a teacher, now."

"What does your family think of your plan to have another child?" Mary asked.

"They're all for it," Colby said. "Once they got over the surprise, of course. Everyone's very excited."

"What about extended family?" Mary asked. "Cousins and such?" They were a big part of her growing up and couldn't imagine her life without them.

"Um," Charlie said, obviously unhappy to give her a negative answer. "It's really just my brother and father and I left in my side. My mother died a few years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said, then looked at Colby.

Colby grimaced and Charlie answered for him, "Cole's family isn't, well, mostly not, well … Most of them kinda cut him off when he came 'out.'"

"Oh," Mary said faintly, unable to imagine what that must have felt like.

"What else would you like to know?" Charlie asked.

"I think it's your turn to ask me," she said with a smile. "I'm sure you have many questions."

"One thing before that," Colby said. "I want to— _we _want to say that we don't think of a surrogate mother as just a—what was the phrase, Charlie?"

"'Incubator on legs,'" Charlie said. "That that's _not_ how we would think of you."

"Right, because no one will have a greater effect on our baby than you—or the surrogate, whoever that is – since you're basically building our baby based on the genetic blueprints, but we count on you to provide good quality raw materials and a good working environment." Colby flushed self-consciously. "That analogy was from Alan, Charlie's dad, who's an engineer."

Mary smiled, pleased. She knew that the others she'd been surrogate for hadn't thought about her as an 'incubator with legs' either, but it had taken them longer to express it. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Now, questions for me?"

Colby and Charlie looked at each other, then Colby said, "Please don't take this wrong, but why be a surrogate?"

She waited for a moment before she replied, overcoming the now automatic irritation she felt when she heard that question. Of all people, the intended parents had the most right to ask that question.

"I think the answer is, 'Because I can,'" she said. "And there are so many people who can't."

Colby and Charlie nodded slowly.

"My health is a gift," she continued. "And my own children are gifts. I want to share that gift with others."

"You have children of your own?" Colby asked.

"Yes, two lovely girls – thirteen and eleven."

"They don't mind – your family doesn't mind that you are going to do this?"

"My family is very supportive," Mary said proudly. "My husband has supported me from the beginning – we both believe that raising children is one of the most important things we can do with the time that God has given us. My girls understand what I do, as well as they can, especially since I only do Gestational Surrogacy, so I am really only providing the womb for the child of two other people. Even my extended family is very supportive." She ignored her brother, Jim, who wouldn't be supportive of her whatever she did.

Colby tilted his head. "From the way you say it, you've done this before?"

"Yes, this will be my third time as a surrogate," she replied. "Probably my last, but I've said that before."

"So you've been pregnant four times?"

"Five," Mary said. She was always very clear on this part. "The first transfer from my first intended parents didn't work." She had been devastated by the miscarriage, cried for a week, but then had become more determined to make it work. "Otherwise, all of my pregnancies have been uneventful, healthy and full-term, resulting in vaginal births of healthy babies."

"How, um," Charlie said. "What does an 'uneventful' pregnancy mean?"

Mary laughed, surprising herself. "It means normal aches and pains, morning sickness and swollen ankles, exhaustion, stretch marks, headaches, acne, and so forth."

"Yuck," Charlie said faintly.

"What you really need to know about me is this," Mary said briskly. "I don't drink, smoke or use drugs, including not being on any prescription drugs. I exercise regularly but intelligently. I stay up to date on all medical advances regarding pregnancy but I don't follow fads. I will be under constant medical supervision of the clinic, but also that of my personal obstetrician and my naturopath.

"I don't have any family history of pregnancy complications, no one around me smokes, and I haven't had any significant illnesses in my life.

"I would like any intended parents to be quite involved in the pregnancy process, in terms of being aware of the stages and growth, so that a baby at the end doesn't seem like it comes from nowhere. After the birth, I would like to receive occasional updates on the child, but I don't want to be significantly involved in the child's life. I won't be any way related to the child, so that makes it easier for me."

Colby and Charlie were nodding with each statement, looking very hopeful.

"I'm good at being pregnant and I enjoy it," she wrapped up.

There was a pause and she said, "No other questions for me?"

The two men looked at each other, communicating without words, just like every other married couple she'd known.

"Will you do it? For us?" Charlie asked.

"Charlie," Colby said under his breath. "Don't pressure her. She probably wants time to think about it."

Charlie looked chastened but still determined. "We'd like you to carry a baby for us, my sperm and a donor egg. Let us know what you decide, okay?"

She looked at these two earnest men, odd but loving, from as different of worlds as possible from hers but as sincere and full of dreams as any couple she'd met.

She smiled. "No need to wait. I'll do it."


	8. The Details

**Part 8 – The Details**

"_I_ wanted to go to the mommy store!" Nena wailed, almost as soon as Charlie and Colby had stepped through the door at home. "You said I could go!"

Colby resisted telling her that they'd said no such thing. "We went while you were with your Mom."

"I wanted to go!" Nena moaned in seven-year-old despair.

"Next time," Colby said, then quickly corrected, "Next time that Charlie and I both go, you can come."

"Proooomise?"

"Uh," Colby said, meeting Charlie's eyes. That was probably safe. "Sure, we promise."

"Okay," Nena said with a dramatic sigh. "I won't forget."

"I know you won't," Colby smiled.

"Nena," Charlie asked cautiously. "Did you tell your mom that you're going to get a little sister or brother?"

Nena's face darkened. "Yes."

Colby grimaced. He hadn't thought about what Jenny would think. "What did she say?"

"Nothin'," Nena said quietly.

"What did she say?" Colby asked again, though gently. He always needed to know what poison Jenny had been feeding Nena so he could counteract it.

"She said I was wrong," Nena said, even quieter. "When I told her about the Mommy Store, she got really mad and started saying stuff."

"Like what?"

"She said …" Nena's voice was almost a whisper and Colby had to lean closer. "She said that you were a filthy fag that just probably wanted a little boy to abuse, too."

Colby sucked in his breath. His hands clenched into fists as he fought the desire to curse Jenny.

Nena looked up. "It's okay, Daddy Daddy. I know she says stuff like that jus' to be mean."

"Did she say anything else?" Colby asked through gritted teeth.

"Just that if she wasn' so busy she'd take me away from you for good."

Colby grimaced, but this was an old line of Jenny's. Somehow, she was always 'too busy' to fight for custody of Nena.

Charlie asked, his voice tense, "Why do _you_ think that we're having a baby, Nena?"

Nena's big green eyes swung to Charlie. "So you can be 'Daddy Daddy', too," she said. "And you can do all the stuff you missed with me."

Forcing back the bile that Jenny's words had brought up, Colby put his arm around Nena and smiled at her. "That's right, honey, plus we've got lots of love to share. Remember what I said about love?"

Nena smiled back. "If you give some love away, you have more to give away. It's anti-math."

"Not anti-math," Colby said quickly, before Charlie could protest. "Just a different kind of math."

"Love-math," Nena agreed. Then gave a big yawn.

Colby looked up at the clock. When they'd called from the airport, Alan had told them that Jenny had dropped off Nena way past suppertime, almost bedtime.

"Did you get some dinner?" Colby asked.

"Had a burger," she said.

"Okay, then it's off to bed with you. School tomorrow."

Nena grumbled, but not too loudly which meant she really was tired. Colby could only imagine how tiring it was to be around Jenny and Jenny's boyfriend, trying to be perfect so that the boyfriend would like her but also having to defend her father from Jenny's attacks.

"Up to bed with you," Colby said. "Charlie will be up in a few minutes to read you a chapter from that book."

"Maybe Charlie could read me two chapters tomorrow?" Nena asked with another yawn.

"Sure," Charlie said.

"Night Daddy," Nena said, giving each of them a hug in turn. "Night Charlie, Night Grandpa."

They all told her goodnight and watched her go upstairs.

As soon as she was gone, Alan turned to them. "Well? I know what you said over the phone."

"Dad," Charlie groaned. "We just got home ourselves. Could we at least get something to eat?"

"Of course, of course!" Alan herded them into the kitchen, forcing them to leave their bags by the front door.

Alan quickly whipped up sandwiches while asking, "So it's a go? When is it going to happen?"

"Very soon," Charlie said as he got out two glasses and poured him and Colby some juice. "Everything's lining up perfectly. Mary's already starting on the drugs to suppress her own cycle. It's crazy how much those drugs cost!"

Colby said, "Charlie will have to fly up and do his, umm, donation at a moment's notice. Well, not a moment, but at a short notice."

"You have to pay for her drugs?" Alan asked.

"We have to pay for everything," Colby responded while taking a plate with a sandwich. "It's not like health insurance is going to cover it. Ours or hers."

Alan frowned. "How much money are we talking?"

"Well," Charlie said with a grimace. He looked at Colby and Colby gave him a resigned but encouraging smile. Charlie continued, "They're giving us a _discount_ on the costs if we allow them to study the baby."

"Study?" Alan asked in alarm.

"Very restricted," Colby said quickly. "He or she has to go in for tests – just cognitive tests and stuff like that – at age one and every two years after that."

"To see if he's a genius?"

"Well," Charlie said uncomfortably. "That is one of the missions of the clinic, to try and figure out what sort of things get passed down genetically. They're starting with strong types, like me instead of someone just 'good in math', in hopes that these 'strong' traits will be passed on more readily."

"Hmm," Alan said. "Still don't like it."

"We don't either, Dad," Charlie said. "But they're doing good work there. As more and more genes are linked to certain diseases, people are thinking about taking _out_ those genes, but what if they're important?"

"True."

The conversation paused as Alan sliced up some apples and Charlie went to check that Nena had made it to bed. Colby could see Alan literally bite his tongue on all the questions he must have. Colby carried their late dinner out to the dining room table.

After a few minutes, Charlie came down the stairs. "She'd actually crawled into bed in her clothes," he reported. "I had to get her up and into her pajamas."

"Poor kid," Colby said. He was exhausted after five minutes with Jenny. But Nena, to her credit, had never said that she didn't want to see her mother anymore.

Charlie sat in a chair next to Colby and picked up his sandwich. Alan waited impatiently while Charlie ate a few bites and drank some juice.

Finally, Alan burst out with, "Have you picked out an egg donor, yet? Do they give you a catalog or something?"

Colby saw a shadow cross Charlie's face. He put a hand on Charlie's shoulder and waited for Charlie to finish chewing and swallowing his food.

When he was ready, Charlie said with undisguised annoyance, "We're not going to 'pick out' the donor, Dad. We don't want to get a 'designer baby.' We'll take the luck of the draw, like anyone else. Though, the candidate pool has been pre-selected, so it's not quite the same."

"Luck of the draw?"

"It'll be based solely on availability and medical compatibility, like blood type."

"Wow," Alan said. "So you could have a black baby or an Asian baby."

"That's right," Charlie said sharply.

"Are you sure you don't want a baby that looks like you? Otherwise, you're going to have to be explaining about the kid from the beginning."

"Dad, we're two guys," Charlie said and Colby was happy to see some humor creeping into his voice and face. "It's not like people are going to think that that the baby came from us only."

"True, but …"

"We're very sure about this," Charlie said, putting his hand on top of Colby's hand where it still rested on his shoulder. "It's tough enough that the kid is going to come from a gene pool of geniuses."

Colby added quietly, "Charlie actually talked about going elsewhere, to get a wider option of donors, but I convinced him that this would be okay. It's very important to us that the baby not be 'picked' but grow into whoever he or she is meant to be."

Alan looked at them for a moment, frowning thoughtfully. Finally, he said, "That's very brave of you. But I can still hope that the baby looks like you."

Colby offered a smile. "And I can hope that the baby likes football, but I'm not going to plan on it."

Alan nodded. "Very wise."

"Our baby's going to be a baby," Charlie said with quiet conviction. "Not a genetic experiment, not a curiosity. Just like you and Mom had. No expectations."

Colby kept his mouth shut on the niggling fear that Charlie _would_ still expect a child of his to be extraordinary. Only time and the baby would tell if Charlie would be able to overcome his innate arrogance and just let the baby be average, if that's what it turned out to be. Colby smiled to himself. _Naw, no baby is ever 'average.' Especially not an 'Eppes.' It's already been shown that being part of the Eppes family makes you extraordinary. _

Colby freed his hand from Charlie's and gestured towards Charlie's half-eaten sandwich. "Finish up your dinner, Dr. Eppes," Colby said, gently cutting off any further questions from Alan. "It's late and Nena's not the only one with school tomorrow."

* * *

They weren't able to avoid the rest of the questions for long, though, and for the next few days, it seemed to Charlie that all they did was answer questions. 'Yes, Charlie's going to be the biological father.' 'No, we're not using someone we know as the egg donor or surrogate.' '_No_, it won't involve a turkey-baster.' 'Yes, we're going to convert Don's old room into a nursery.' 'No, the surrogate is going to stay with her family in Oregon, near her own doctors. We'll go up there when it's time.' 'Yes, Colby's going to be the child's legal parent through adoption.' 'No, we're not worried that the surrogate is going to keep the baby.' They answered questions from family then from friends and co-workers as the news seemed to spread everywhere. Colby had wryly asked if they should just get an interview with the local television station.

Most people's reactions were positive, though they did get a number of people – mostly distant acquaintances, telling them that they should be doing adoption instead. Charlie wasn't sure why that would be more acceptable, unless they were implying that Charlie had a 'gay gene' that was in danger of being passed on to a child. In those sorts of conversations, he fell back on the fact that this was probably the only chance for a continuation of the Eppes family's line, and that usually shut them up.

Don and Will had their own questions, but they tended to be more mundane, such as 'Who's going to get up in the night with the baby?', 'Are you going to make Dad change all the diapers?' and 'What if the baby's allergic to chalk?' Or even just silly as in, 'Which one of you is going to be doing the breastfeeding?'

About a week after the trip to Oregon, Don and Will and their cats were over for dinner. The dinner conversation had turned into a spirited debate on how to decorate the baby's bedroom, especially considering that Colby and Charlie had decided they didn't want to know the gender of the child until it was born. It had finally been determined that Nena should pick out the paint, having the best color sense in the family, and the rest of the room decoration would take its cue from her paint choices. Nena had immediately begun planning the epic painting that would cover the walls. Charlie and Colby had almost backed down after realizing what they might be letting themselves – and the baby – in for, but then had decided that it was a great way for Nena to connect with her future sibling.

Now, Charlie was sitting on the couch while Colby had been dragged off by Alan to look for photos of Charlie and Don as babies, perhaps to warn Colby of the horror that might come.

Don and Will came into the front room and sat down near Charlie.

"Something for you," Don said, handing Charlie a check. "From the Uncle's Fund."

Charlie looked at the check then looked again. "Ten thousand bucks?" he gasped. "Where did you guys get this kind of money?"

"Lifted it from a drug dealer," Will said cheerfully. "He'll never miss it."

Charlie gaped at him. "Really?"

Will rolled his eyes and Charlie grimaced. Even after all this time, he could never figure out when Will was teasing.

"Actually, Will got lucky on some stocks," Don said.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Will said huffily. "It was research and timing and—"

"Luck," Don finished. Will gave him a mock glare as he continued, "We figured that you must be stretched tight with the costs of the surrogate and everything."

"We'll be okay," Charlie said. "But it is a lot of money. We were planning on taking out a home equity loan, but maybe we won't have to now. Thanks, guys, thanks a lot."

Don smiled.

Will said, "Okay, so if it's a boy, it has to be named William and a girl, Wilhelmina."

Charlie smiled, even he could tell this was kidding. "Not Don or Donna?"

"Ugh," Will responded. "Who would name their kid that?"

Charlie laughed then frowned thoughtfully. How did one go about deciding on a name, anyway? _Or a diaper type or a stroller or an elementary school or …_

Charlie swallowed hard and reached for the beer that Don held.


	9. Waiting and Naming

**Part 9 – Waiting and Naming**

The next few weeks were long ones for Charlie. While he knew intellectually that things were moving lightning fast, relative to the average length of the process, it all seemed to drag. He'd never been good at waiting and usually hadn't had to in his life. To pass the time, he read lots of pregnancy books and scared himself with what could go wrong. He started calculating the odds of getting a child at the end of this whole complicated and messy process, made hugely more complicated by medical intervention, and had to go solve some murders for Don in order to calm down.

Then it was time for Charlie to fly up to Oregon to give his 'donation.' One piece of luggage was taken up entirely with a full body 'pregnancy pillow' for Mary. He also took cute Los Angeles T-shirts for Mary's two girls. Charlie and Colby had struggled for a while deciding on what to give Mary's husband – what do you give a man who was allowing his wife to carry your baby? Eventually they decided on a gift basket of California dried fruits, nuts, candy and chocolate, figuring that maybe he could use that to deflect some of Mary's pregnancy cravings.

Charlie called Colby from the clinic when it was time for him to give his sperm sample. He didn't really need help but wanted Colby to be part of the process, even remotely. Then he came home and everyone sat on pins and needles for a few days until they got the news that three excellent embryos had been created with donor eggs and Charlie's sperm and had been inserted into Mary with no problems. _More_ pins and needles until they got the incredible news that one of the embryos had implanted and was busy growing madly. Charlie and Colby shared an emotional phone call with Mary, where Mary promised to take care of their growing child and Charlie and Colby offered her anything and everything under the sun to make her happy and comfortable.

Then it was the same nine months of waiting that most people got.

* * *

Colby was sitting at the dining room table with his laptop when Charlie rushed into the room, waving an envelope. "Look, look, look!"

"The sonogram printout?"

The clinic and Mary had been keeping them up to date on her health and progress, but this was the first picture they'd seen. Charlie pulled out the black and white printout and they stared at it.

"Uh," Charlie said, squinting. "Where …"

Colby pointed to a dark blob. "I think that's a hand."

"Or the head …"

They squinted for another moment then smiled wryly at each other.

"It's only been 11 weeks," Colby said. "Can't expect it to look like a baby yet."

"Still," Charlie said proudly. "The weight and fetal movement is entirely within normal parameters."

"Yes, it is," Colby smiled. "Over a quarter of the way done!"

"Twenty-eight point two thirty five of the way, if the delivery is at strict national average."

Colby nodded, though he privately doubted much about their baby would be average.

"I think I'll put this on the fridge!" Charlie said.

"Umm, okay," Colby said, "But you get to interpret it to everyone who asks where the head is."

Charlie nodded distractedly and wandered off to the kitchen.

Colby smiled, watching Charlie go. They were only a quarter of the way through and already life had changed. Ever since Mary had gotten officially pregnant, Charlie had been having regular panic attacks, over everything from the weirdness of changing a girl's diaper to private or public schooling to the safety recalls on some car seats.

Colby had felt like panicking too, until he'd realized that his training had prepared him for this. Not _specifically_ for a surrogacy with his male lover, but in planning, structure, ways of thinking. He'd gotten logistician training in the army and knew how to break down a complex situation to component parts.

He was approaching the arrival of their baby like a lengthy incursion into enemy territory – they would have to provide for all facets of living, nothing could be assumed to be easily available unless planned in advance. Yes, they lived in the middle of the Los Angeles Valley where everything _was_ available easily, but Colby was determined to not be running to Walgreens at midnight to pick up a 'binky.' He knew full well that he was over-planning and that most people got along fine without these elaborate spreadsheets and lists. _Yeah, at least my coping mechanisms are useful …_ Charlie had spent five hours yesterday investigating the entrance criteria at top universities.

Charlie came back out from the kitchen, munching on an apple. Charlie had been eating a lot lately and had been nauseous in the mornings. Charlie had argued that the syndrome of sympathetic pregnancy was a real one, but Colby had looked it up, and it was really only valid if you were actually _around_ the pregnant person. However, Colby thought it made Charlie feel more connected with the pregnancy, so Colby went with it. He hoped Charlie wouldn't put on too many pounds …

Charlie sat at the table next to him. "I've been thinking about taking a semester off from teaching when the baby comes."

"Really?" Colby said. "Have you changed your mind on the idea of a wet nurse?"

"No," Charlie said. "Obviously I can't do the breast-feeding thing, but the first six months are crucial for bonding."

Colby grimaced. "Can we … can we afford you taking a semester off? I mean a wet nurse is going to cost a lot already."

"We can afford it when I get that Martin's Grant."

"Charlie, you can't _plan_ on getting an award!"

Charlie grinned impishly. "When it comes to Mrs. Deanna Martin, and her adoration of a certain brilliant but modest mathematician? Yes, I can."

Colby laughed at Charlie's confidence, knowing that Charlie was probably right, no matter how smug it sounded.

"Hey, Angel," Colby said, "I have a task for you, if you want to take it on."

"Sure, sure!" Charlie said eagerly.

"Since we're having a hard time deciding on names, maybe you could get opinions and ideas from other people? And sort of gather together a list?"

"Oh!" Charlie said, "Then I can evaluate the names based on certain criteria!"

"Like what sort of criteria?"

"History, etymology, dissonance, lots."

Colby smiled. "Go for it." At least it would keep him busy for a while.

* * *

Charlie pushed the last pin into the corkboard and stepped back. The board was covered with scraps of paper, name suggestions from each of his friends and family. He'd limited them all to three suggestions per gender, but that still made up a fair number of names. This was only a search for a first name, since he knew that the middle name would either be Alan or Margaret and the last name Eppes.

Charlie had taken up his task with relish, something to make the waiting pass faster. He was statistically analyzing each name, in terms of popularity, origin, historical allusions, sound quality, possibilities for positive and negative nicknames, demographics, and a host of other factors. He turned to his chalkboard and added the last set of names.

This last group was from Coop, who had contributed 'Davis, Remy, Jefferson,' for a boy and 'Belle, Savannah, EmilyAnne' for a girl.

Megan had chosen 'Brett, Daniel, Anthony' for a boy and 'Alyssa, Lily, Miriam' for a girl.

Larry had added 'Galileo, Carl, Nicolaus' and 'Hypatia, Henrietta, Sally.'

David (with input from his not-my-girlfriend-really Fiona and his just-my-roommate-really Matt) had picked 'James, Michael, Jonathon' and 'Jennifer, Michelle, Amy.'

Amita had chosen 'Stanislaw, Oscar, Irving' and 'Emmy, Sophia, Shafi.'

Will had given him 'Einstein, Wolfgang, Benoit' and 'Jacobina, Giuseppa, Enheduanna', though it was quite possible he was kidding.

Don had contributed 'Peter, Joshua, Matthew' and 'Elizabeth, Sarah, Leah.'

Alan had listed 'Eli, Ruben, Benjamin' and 'Eve, Maia, Rivka.'

Colby had chosen 'Tyler, Mitchell, Morgan' and 'Carson, Jesse, Drew.'

Nena, for some bizarre reason, wanted 'Nonny' for either a boy or a girl. Charlie had already mentally discarded this, but he ran it through the analysis anyway.

After all the computations were done, and Charlie couldn't come up with any other factors to include, the final ratings said that the ideal name for a boy would be Daniel, with Matthew in the second place. For a girl, it was Eve, with Lily a scant tenth of a point behind. He looked at the latest sonogram, which showed an actual face with nose and mouth and everything. It didn't look like the baby was going to get his nose but it was too early to say. They'd still managed to avoid learning if it was a boy or girl.

Charlie gathered up his calculations and checked the calendar. _Just 83.45 days. Give or take..._


	10. A Brown Envelope

**Part 10 –** **A Brown Envelope**

Charlie and Colby sat on the couch, side by side, and stared at the manila envelope in Charlie's hands. The return address said, 'The Repository for Genetive Diversity.' They both knew what was inside the envelope. Charlie had been dreading it since a phone call last week.

"_Dr. Eppes, when one of the parents is known, as it is in your case, it is our policy to send information on the other parent to you as well. Regardless, you would be receiving detailed medical history, for obvious reasons, but in this case we are also including personal information from the egg donor. The personal information is in a separate enclosure, if you prefer not to be aware of it. If you don't want to read it yourself, we recommend that you keep it in a safe place, for the inevitable time when your child will want to read it."_

Until Charlie opened this envelope, until he found out about the egg donor, he could pretend that the baby was his alone, formed out of some cloning technology then implanted in the surrogate mother's womb. But it wasn't just his genes. There was a whole other set of genes that would be added into the mix to form the 'nature' part of the child. He and Colby would manage the 'nurture' part, but babies didn't come as blank slates. And he'd always been one that believed the more data, the better …

He looked over at Colby to find Colby's warm eyes resting on him. Colby smiled in reassurance and put his arm around Charlie.

"The baby will be ours, Angel," Colby said quietly. "Ours alone. But … I'd rather know than not know."

Charlie nodded, took a deep breath, and opened the envelope.

The first set of documents was the heavy-duty contracts that the egg donor signed that surrendered any parental rights whatsoever to any children. Those were good to have a copy of. The second set of documents was the donor's medical history. They scanned through it but didn't see anything terrible. Charlie assumed that if there had been, the eggs wouldn't have been accepted. There was some heart disease on the paternal side and an epileptic aunt, but Charlie's own medical history was spottier.

Behind that was another set of documents, sealed inside its own envelope and labeled 'Personal Information.' With trembling fingers, Charlie opened this second envelope.

The first thing that fell out of the envelope was a picture. It showed a tall blonde woman with bright blue eyes. She was thin—no, just muscular and wiry. She was not pretty, in a traditional sense, but could be called handsome. She was wearing an attractive dark-blue dress, but somehow looked out of place in the dress, like she wasn't accustomed to such an outfit. Charlie moved the photo aside and looked at the sheet underneath it. There was a name on the document, a heavily-Scandinavian name.

"Do you know her?" Colby asked, his voice tight.

"No, don't recognize the picture or the name," Charlie said and felt Colby relax. He hadn't realized how worried Colby had been that the egg donor would turn out to be one of Charlie's colleagues, someone who he knew and interacted with regularly.

Charlie was familiar with the format of the document, having filled out one himself, and his eyes jumped quickly down the page until he found the section on 'Notable Accomplishments'. There, instead of the expected doctorates and publications and Nobel prizes, was a list of sporting events. Most of the listings started with 'First Place' or 'Gold Medal' or 'World Champion'. There were marathons, bike races, and other events Charlie couldn't identify. Charlie recognized some triathlons, including the Hawaiian Ironman and Escape from Alcatraz. Oh, and six Olympic medals – three gold, two silver and a bronze – one in Triathlon, two in Cross-country Skiing, and the rest in Biathlon.

"She's … an _athlete_?" Colby said in confusion.

"Yeah," Charlie said, "Millie said the place was collecting genetic material from the best and brightest in all fields. I guess that means athletes, too. She certainly is … fit."

"Damn, biathlon," Colby said, shaking his head in wonder. "Gotta be the world's toughest sport. Tried it and failed miserably."

"That's the biking and swimming one?"

"Nope," Colby said, still shaking his head. "It's cross-country skiing and shooting."

"Why's that the world's toughest sport?" Charlie asked. "There are a lot that sound tougher, like, I don't know, kick-boxing."

"Biathlon's like … like running as hard as you can for three miles, then stopping and threading a needle five times without missing, then running again. It's two totally different sports together – one that requires heavy aerobic exercise and another that requires your body and heart to be entirely calm. Ask your buddy Edgerton how tough that would be."

"Hmm," Charlie said, impressed. It wasn't as good as being a scientist but it was still noteworthy.

Charlie turned the page and scanned over her background – Swedish with a Norwegian grandfather, then turned to the next page until he got to the section that he really needed to see. It listed her current children, zero, and her expected future children, zero. Attached to this was a separate sheet of paper, handwritten in a neat, almost-architectural print and in natural-sounding English, was a long paragraph that started with – "Why am I doing this?"

_Why am I doing this? It's not a simple or pleasant process, believe me, and many of my friends think I'm crazy to go through this. I never wanted to have kids. I like kids, sure, but just never saw kids as part of my present or future. I'm happy with my life and am quite content to let others produce the next generation. My sister, however, is a different story. She's wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember, and she and her husband tried the usual way for years. But there's something wrong with her eggs. So I decided to offer her mine – it's not like I'm using them! She had her first child using my egg and sperm from her husband and my little nephew is adorable. When she came to me, saying she wanted a second child, I'd like to say I didn't hesitate, but now I knew what I was in for. We decided to go for one big egg harvest, with plenty of spares for as many kids as she wanted. In a twist of fate, that same week I received the invitation to donate eggs to this repository. I thought a lot about it – could I deal with there being kids of mine out there in the world that I didn't know about? Then I realized that the kids wouldn't really be mine, I'm just supplying some building blocks for someone else. It's the people who raise the kids that they really belong to. I've seen what happiness that being a mother brings to my sister, and while I haven't changed my mind about having my own children, I'd like to help others have that same joy if that's their desire. Also, the egg-quality issues with my sister appear to be environmentally-caused and I worry that future generations will have more and more trouble with fertility._

Charlie turned the page to find a section with more introspective questions. Reading through these and her answers, Charlie began to get a fuller image of the woman.

'If you could choose, what personality traits of yours would you like to pass on to a child?' _My love for the outdoors and nature, my determination and my ability to make and meet long-term goals, my social personality and love for friends and family._

'If there is something about your personality that you hope a child wouldn't get, what would that be?' _My stubbornness and difficulty with losing._

'Are there any physical traits that you would like to pass on?' _ I guess what you would call my core good health. I've been very blessed!_

'Any physical traits you hope a child wouldn't get?' _My tendency to sunburn and my big feet._

"What did you write?" Colby asked.

"Hmm?" Charlie said, his gaze on the paper.

"What did you write for those questions?"

"Oh, I don't remember. I filled out this form ages ago."

"Okay, so what would you write now?"

Charlie looked up, blinking the image of the blonde woman from his eyes. Colby was smiling at him encouragingly, and Charlie felt a rush of warmth for his husband. No one had ever understood him as well as Colby did. Right now, Colby was trying to turn his attention away from this woman, who was half way across the world but would have a profound effect on his life, and turn that attention back towards their own family.

Charlie scratched his ear. "Um, let's see. If I could choose personality traits to pass on, I'd choose my ability with math and my ability to visualize abstract concepts. What I _wouldn't_ want to pass on would be my lack of organization and, well, being a poor loser."

Colby grinned. "Good choices. And the physical stuff?"

"I'd like a child to get my …" He flushed. "Well, my hair."

Colby laughed. "Me, too. A baby with curls has got to be almost as adorable as an adult with curls."

Grinning, Charlie elbowed him.

"And the other side?" Colby asked.

"Oh, definitely not my nose, and being short."

Colby nodded thoughtfully. "Definitely not the nose."

"Hey!" Charlie said. "I thought you liked my nose."

"Oh, I do," Colby said. "But wouldn't want there to be two such noses in the world. Just like I wouldn't want there to be two Charlie Eppes in the world. One is perfect. Two, I think, would be Armageddon."

Charlie snorted. "I see." He looked at Colby. "What about you? What do you want to pass on?"

Colby's smile faded. "I won't be passing anything on, Charlie."

"Sure, you will," Charlie said firmly. "Who knows what nature or nurture does and you're gonna be a big part of the nurture. So, what would it be?"

The corner of Colby's mouth turned up in one of his sideways smiles and he shrugged.

"I'll help," Charlie said. "You want to pass on your patience, your sense of humor and your ability to understand me."

"I understand you?" Colby asked with mock surprise.

"And you don't want to pass on your ability to avoid talking about stuff until it becomes a problem."

"Look who's talking!"

"And for physical stuff …"

Colby shook his head. "Now, I know that that's nature, not nurture."

"Who knows?" Charlie said lightly. "People start looking like their pets, why not kids start looking like their true daddies?"

Colby looked skeptical but waiting to see what Charlie would say.

"Your blond hair," Charlie said thoughtfully. "And, if it's a boy, your physique." He ran his fingers down one of Colby's muscular arms and across his chest, both which still thrilled him after years of familiarity.

Colby smirked. "And what would you not want?"

"Umm," Charlie said, actually at a loss. He loved Colby's body from head to toe. "How about your ability to attract bites from every mosquito in a square mile?"

"Yeah," Colby said with feeling. "Don't wish that on anyone."

"It's just that you're so delicious," Charlie said, as he'd said many times before.

Colby rolled his eyes, as he'd done so many times before, and turned back to the document sitting on Charlie's lap. Charlie nodded and paged through the last few pages, but there was nothing particularly interesting. With a thump, Charlie turned the pages back over then slid the document into the envelope. He took one last look at that woman who had given something profound of herself so that Charlie's family could be complete, then put her photo back into the envelope and shut it. He put that envelope and the other documents back into the shipping envelope.

Charlie said, "We should get a safety deposit box for this, not the medical stuff, but the rest. We wouldn't want the kid to run across it before we've talked about it." _And I want to totally forget it myself._

"Okay," Colby said. "You alright?"

Charlie shrugged. "I will be."

Colby took the envelope from Charlie's hands and set it aside. "Just a few more months," he said. "Then we'll have our baby in our arms and nothing else will matter."

"Fifty-three days left, if the gestation is average," Charlie mumbled.

"I've got an idea," Colby said, pulling out his wallet. "Let's look at the picture of the sonogram again."

Charlie gave Colby a grateful smile and took the folded up copy that Colby handed him. There, in that fuzzy black-and-white image, was their child, forming and growing.

"Besides," Colby said with a smile. "We still have to finish painting the baby's room. Nena's anxious to do one of her mood paintings on one of the walls, and needs our help deciding what mood we want. Happy? Calm? Laughter?"

"I can't tell the difference when she paints any of them," Charlie grumbled.

"Me, either," Colby admitted. "But let's go look at the room and talk about it, okay?"

"Okay." Charlie carefully folded up the sonogram and returned it to Colby. Charlie picked up the envelope with the egg donor information, slid it into his briefcase and locked the case. Then he threaded his fingers through Colby's and they stood up together. Hands linked, they went upstairs, towards the room that they were preparing for their child, _their_ child, soon to come.


	11. Nanny Search

**Part 11 – Nanny Search**

Colby stared at his 'Must Do Before Birth' list and frowned. The baby's room was almost ready – Nena had somehow managed to make it cheerful without it being over-stimulating. After exhaustive research, the stroller and car seat were on order. They already had the baby monitor, bathtub, stocked medical chest, basic clothing in a variety of sizes, and a month's worth of diapers. They'd made decisions – like buying a co-sleeper so the baby could sleep with them in their room for as long as he or she wanted and that they'd have a baby shower _after_ the baby was born. The paperwork for Colby's second-parent adoption was ready and waiting.

What remained were two large categories – Feeding and Childcare. Colby was trying very hard to make Charlie's glib request to 'hire a wet nurse' happen, but what made a good wet nurse didn't necessarily make for a good nanny. And Colby had the feeling that they were going to need a very special nanny indeed. Someone who could handle a newborn baby, two unique new dads and a strange extended family.

Colby rubbed his eyes. They shouldn't put off interviewing nannies much longer. Maybe Charlie would just have to settle for using a milk bank. Not that _that_ would be cheap. Mary had already offered to nurse the baby for the first few days, to give the baby that all important colostrum for immunities.

Shaking himself, Colby opened a new page on his document and began to make a list of everything that they'd want in a nanny.

* * *

After Charlie and Colby had pared Colby's massive list of wants down to the 'musts' for a nanny, Colby registered at multiple online nanny services and started the search.

Anyone who didn't have newborn experience was out. _Someone_ should know what they were doing. They didn't have the space to hire a live-in nanny, so it would have to be someone who already lived nearby or would be willing to move. He also eliminated anyone not interested in flexible hours. With their nanny, 'flexibility' would have to be paramount. The nanny wouldn't have to be there every night, except for perhaps that first week.

Colby felt a spasm of panic at the thought of that first week and grimly returned to his task.

Smoker? Out. No certifications or degrees? Out. Not willing to submit to an extensive background check? Out. Poor English? Out. With Charlie's language genes, the kid wouldn't need any more roadblocks. Though they'd really like someone who spoke a second language fluently. Charlie had gone on at great lengths about the cognitive advantages of learning a second language at a very early age, even if that language was later forgotten.

Colby also posted his family's profile and nanny requirements on the websites. He could imagine potentials crossing them off their lists – gay parents, wouldn't allow them to bring their own children, sounded demanding. He rented a post office box and set up a separate voicemail for the replies. He didn't want any gay-parent-haters knowing how to find them.

They set aside a Saturday for the interviews – at least for the first round of interviews. It might take a long time to find the right person.

Calls started coming in immediately. Colby was ruthless in his first impression eliminations. They were _not_ settling on the nanny for their baby. The alternative was Colby going on extended leave from his job – since his paid less than Charlie's – but Colby would do that if he had to. Charlie had talked about taking time off, but had gone ahead with his next semester curriculum anyway. He might have liked the idea, but since with his salary, grants, and awards, he was the primary breadwinner …

Realizing the difficulty of the task, Colby wished they'd started earlier, but, as in the battlefield, you could only work with the time you had.

* * *

Even with his ruthlessness, Colby had accumulated a reasonable list of candidates who had passed the phone interview by the time the scheduled Saturday Interview Day came around. Colby, Charlie and Nena all took their laptops and set up at three different tables in the CalSci lunch room. All three of them would interview separately but Nena would get first shot. Not only would the nanny become her occasional babysitter, Colby and Charlie had a great deal of faith in Nena's ability to 'read' people. Colby had worried a little about this awkward interview process until he realized that this odd setup was just what a person would have to be able to deal with if that person wanted to be a nanny for them.

The first candidate arrived – a smiling young woman, and Colby greeted her while noting on his list that she'd been ten minutes late.

"The first person you'll talk with is Nena, our daughter," Colby explained to the woman. "While caring for her would not be a big part of your responsibilities, you would be her occasional babysitter."

The woman's smile turned a little uncertain and she clutched at the resume and references in her hand. Colby kept his face unchanged but made a mental note. _Not used to older children, perhaps?_

The woman went over and carefully sat next to Nena. Nena fixed her with a stern eye, probably imitating what she'd seen of interrogations, and began to ask her questions. Colby smiled to himself, watching his little girl act so grownup. In a way, she seemed more composed and adult than the woman she was interviewing.

After ten minutes – to the second – Nena sent the woman on to Charlie. By the time the woman returned to Colby, she was looking dazed and somewhat frightened. Colby took a moment to calm her down then asked his own questions. He thanked her for her time, took her resume and references, and said he'd be in touch. Mentally, he crossed her off the list. Just in time for the next candidate to arrive.

On it went through the day, with just a break for lunch. Nena then Charlie then Colby.

"Do you like to play games?"

"What is your opinion on the Montessori Method of teaching?"

"Are you uncomfortable with firearms?"

"Do you like to go for walks?"

"Do you follow the philosophy of Attachment Parenting?"

"A threatening stranger arrives at the front door. What do you do?"

"Do you like cats?"

"What do you consider the psychological role of the nanny in a child's development?"

"How do you go about disciplining a kid?"

"Will you let me watch all the TV I want?"

"Are you infant CPR certified?"

"Are you comfortable with flexible hours, including the occasional urgent call in the middle of the night to take care of the baby while we go into the office to work on a case?"

"Do you tell stories?"

"Have you had the chicken pox or black plague or any other sort of highly communicable disease that you may still be a carrier for?"

"Are you able to work as a member of a 'child-raising team' or do you feel that there needs to be one person in charge?"

"Do you like dogs?"

"Can you prepare a nutritionally-balanced meal?"

"Are you comfortable with celebrating Jewish holidays?"

"Do you like to paint or do art stuff?"

"Do you have a driver's license and what is your driving record?"

"Are you alright working in a family with multiple gay men?"

One by one, the group of pre-screened applicants went through the gauntlet, answered questions, and were – some more reluctantly than others – eliminated from possibility.

There was only one more name on Colby's list, and it was ten minutes after her appointment time, so Colby began to pack up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Granger?"

Colby looked up to see a non-descript woman in her early 50s.

She held out her hand. "Evelyn Boyd. I apologize for being late. I was looking in the wrong building."

Colby shook her hand, appreciating that she explained, but didn't seem rushed or overly apologetic. She handed him a resume and references.

"Okay, glad you found us," he said then repeated his opening that he'd been using all day. "The first person you'll talk with is Nena, our daughter. While caring for her would not be a big part of your responsibilities, you would be her occasional babysitter."

Evelyn nodded and turned to Nena. She held out her hand and Nena solemnly shook it.

"Hello, Nena," Evelyn said. "I'm Evelyn, though I prefer to go by Evie."

"Hi, I just go by Nena."

Evie smiled and immediately began talking to Nena as an adult, not a child. Nena responded with her own smile and an eagerness that Colby hadn't seen before. Colby looked down at the resume on his table and let Nena have her time.

The cafeteria was quiet this late and Colby could hear Nena and Evie as they talked, and then after that, Charlie.

Evie didn't just answer questions, she asked her own, such as what her other household responsibilities would be, what was _Charlie's_ view on correct discipline, and what Nena's favorite games were. She wasn't the only applicant to ask questions, but most of them hadn't. She also seemed calm and unfazed under the barrage of odd questions, and not ashamed to answer 'I don't know' to some of them. She'd grown up in the area and spoke excellent Spanish.

Colby read through her resume as he listened, and also recalled what she'd said in their phone interview. Evie had been a maternity and pediatrics nurse for twenty years, including several years in neo-natal care, before being 'offered' early retirement. She'd become a nanny after that – wanting to continue to work with kids without returning to the politicized world of modern medicine. Her previous job had been with an Indian family that decided to move out of the country. They'd tried to talk her into going with them, but she preferred to stay in southern California. She was single, had always been, and was looking for an active, energetic family to become part of.

By the time that Evie returned to Colby, she was still smiling, perhaps even more so.

"Your husband has an extraordinary mind," she said, immediately endearing her to Colby, then cementing it with, "Easily gets side-tracked, though."

"Yeah," Colby grinned. "He's tends to live a lot in his head – which isn't a bad place if you're one of the top ten minds in the world – but occasionally has difficulty with the mundane aspects of life."

"Eating, sleeping, personal hygiene?"

Colby laughed. "Exactly." Then he got to his own questions.

After fifteen minutes of back-and-forth conversation, Colby thanked Evie, shook her hand and watched as she left the cafeteria. Nena, Charlie and Colby looked at each other then all three of them gave relieved smiles of agreement.

A pageful of checked references, a rented apartment, a written contract and an exhaustive background check later and they had their nanny. Colby checked his lists and could finally nod in satisfaction. They were as ready as they were going to be.

Now all they needed was a baby.


	12. Heading to Oregon

**Part 12 – Heading to Oregon**

Four days before Mary's due date, Charlie and Colby pulled Nena out of school and the three of them, with extremely grudging permission from Nena's mother, got on a train to Oregon. Evie would follow them later by plane and stay at a friends until they needed her.

They rented a sleeper cabin and had fun sleeping and trying to take a shower in the bumping train. They frequented the diner car and the observation deck. They played card games and read books and tried to identify trees as they flashed by the window. By unspoken agreement, no one talked about the baby coming. This was their time, for just the three of them.

Arriving in Portland the next day, they were greeted by gloomy skies but were ready for quarters that weren't moving. They took a cab to a nice hotel where they'd reserved a small suite with two bedrooms and a big family area.

Waiting for them at the hotel was a huge package. It contained everything that Colby could think they might need to take a newborn on a plane – including a car seat/stroller. They stowed the box in the corner of their suite unopened. After the bedrooms had been claimed and the view oohed over, Charlie and Colby sat Nena down on the couch between them. There was one issue that they had put off addressing.

Colby started, "Honey, when the baby comes out of Mary's stomach, it's gonna hurt, a _lot_."

"More than getting shot?"

Colby chuckled. "Depends on where you get shot. But giving birth takes longer, though you get better again faster. Giving birth can take anywhere from a few minutes to a whole day."

"A whole day?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, sitting on her other side. "So Mary's really going to be uncomfortable and we don't want you to have to see that."

"But you will?"

"Mary needs somebody to hold her hand and be with her while she's in pain. You know how Will needed people to stay with him when he got shot?"

"I hate hospitals," Nena grumbled. "He got shot _two_ times!"

Colby nodded. "So this is the plan – When Mary calls and says it's time for the baby to be born, Evie will come and stay here with you. As soon as the baby comes, we'll call you two here and you can both come to the birthing center and meet the baby. Okay?"

Nena frowned and looked at the floor for a moment. "It really hurts?"

"Yeah," Colby said. "There's lots of pain and blood and yucky stuff."

"You'll call me as soon as the baby is out of her stomach?"

"Yes, just as soon as it is. The baby is going to want to meet Big Sister!"

"Evie will stay with me the whole time?"

"As long as it takes."

Nena looked up at them. "Okay. But maybe Charlie should stay too, he doesn't like to see blood."

Charlie grimaced. "No, I don't, but Mary needs us both there. She's got two hands to hold, right?"

"Right …" Nena said. "Can Evie and me do room service?"

"Sure, honey," Colby smiled. Charlie nodded and squeezed Nena's shoulder.

Colby sighed with relief that they'd gotten that straightened out. "Now, how about we check in on Mary?"

* * *

Mary shifted on the chair, though she knew that this late in the pregnancy, there would be no comfortable position, no matter how plush the chair. The hotel room was nice, though. Colby and Charlie were determined that she would be comfortable in her last few days. _At least I hope it will be just a few days. Or less._

Mary had moved in to the hotel today and was making herself at home. She missed her husband and little girls, but she didn't really want them to meet Charlie's family. It wasn't that she was ashamed of either side, but she thought that it was better to keep the worlds separate. That would make it easier – though never easy – to return home without the baby growing in her womb.

She stroked her straining belly. There were be stretch marks, she'd never been able to avoid them, regardless of how much lotion she used, but in a week, the stretch marks would be all she had remaining. This time was always the hardest. Throughout her pregnancy, she'd tried to think of the child as not hers, as she was just temporary residence for the child, but the connection she had with any baby she carried, no matter the baby's genes, was impervious to rational thought. She would mourn the loss, though she knew the baby would be going to the family he or she was meant to.

It was odd to be thinking of the baby as 'he or she' this late in the pregnancy, all the other intended parents had wanted to know gender, but Colby and Charlie hadn't wanted to know, so Mary had asked the doctors to keep it from her, too. Otherwise, she knew she'd let it slip. She understood why Colby and Charlie wanted to keep some mystery in a process that involved very little that wasn't measured, examined, and tracked, but it must have made decorating the baby's room difficult.

Mary smiled to herself, shifting again on the chair. She'd been sent many pictures of the baby's room as it progressed, as she had sent many pictures of her developing belly to them. She hadn't seen any of them in person since she'd gotten pregnant, but they'd exchanged phone calls and emails almost every day. She felt like she knew the baby's extended family – Grandpa, Uncles and cats – though she'd never meet them. The one person that she would meet, and was very much looking forward to meeting, was Nena. Mary heartily approved of Colby and Charlie bringing Nena up to Oregon for the birth. There was no way that Nena couldn't have felt pushed aside by the anticipation of a new baby, no matter how hard Colby and Charlie tried to include her. Nena's 'emotion painting' of 'Family' on the wall of the baby's room had choked Mary up, even if she didn't get it.

Over the last nine months, Mary had been amused and understanding of Colby's grilling about newborn needs, and amused though a little befuddled by the sort of questions that Charlie had asked her. Charlie had been calculating cell division since the day of fertilization and insisted, every conversation, on telling her just how many cells the baby had gotten to. She didn't need to know the numbers now to be able to say that the baby was _big_ and _ready_. Or maybe it was just her that was ready. She hoped that the baby wouldn't decide to be fashionably late. The one late baby that she'd carried had been miserable.

There was a knock on the door and she looked up with an eager smile. "Come in! It's open!" She'd wedged it open the last time she'd waddled by to the bathroom.

Charlie pushed open the door and his eyes immediately went to Mary's belly. Mary was kind of used to that. "Hi," he said.

The door opened wider and admitted the big blond man she'd only met once. "Hi, our room is just one floor up," Colby said, herding Charlie into the room.

Behind Colby was one of the cutest little girls that Mary had ever seen, though of course not as cute as her two girls. Nena was blond and green-eyed like her birth father, though there was an extra hint of stubbornness around her mouth. She was obviously in the middle of a growth spurt, her purple Jelly Beans top just barely meeting the waistband of her jeans. Nena's eyes also went to Mary's stomach and Nena stepped closer to Colby.

"Mary, this is Nena," Colby said. "Say 'hi', honey," he said to Nena. "You've talked to Mary on the phone many times."

"Hi," Nena said shyly, not raising her eyes from Mary's round belly.

The baby jumped in Mary's womb, as if he or she had recognized that his or her family had arrived.

"Oh!" she said.

"What, what is it?" Charlie asked quickly. "A contraction?"

"No, no." Mary shook her head. "Just the baby kicking. Come feel!"

"You don't mind?" Colby asked, "I mean, you were complaining about people pawing at you."

Mary waved them closer. "That was random people in the grocery line, not the parents."

Charlie tentatively reached out. Mary took his hand and guided it to where the baby was doing a tap dance in her womb.

"Oh, oh," Charlie said, his eyes going impossibly wide. He sat down hard on the bed nearby. "Wow."

"Starting to feel real?" Mary smiled.

She helped Colby feel the baby and a huge grin broke out on Colby's face.

"Feel the baby, honey," Colby said, gently nudging Nena forward.

Nena carefully put her hand on Mary's stomach. Then her eyes went wide, in a repeat of Charlie's expression. "Oh! That's a big kick! Must be a girl."

Mary laughed.

Colby sat down on the bed next to Charlie and took Charlie's hand.

"I know we just talked yesterday," Colby said to Mary, "but how are you feeling?"

"Ready," Mary said with a smile. "One baby was a week early, one a week late, and the other two close to the due date. It's already past the week early mark, so—"

Charlie's eyes finally rose from her belly. "So, odds are – wait, what do you mean by 'close'? Were the others _exactly_ seven days off? A.M. or P.M.?"

Chuckling, Mary shook her head. "I can hardly remember my name these days. All my brainpower is being sucked up by the baby."

"Wow," Charlie said. "Literally?"

"I don't know those big words you use," Mary teased.

Nena suddenly asked, "Daddy, can we give it to her now?"

"You want to?" Colby asked.

Nena nodded. Colby looked at Charlie, who nodded as well. Colby handed Nena a hotel room key. "Go get it then. It's—"

"Next to the bed, I know."

Colby smiled and Nena hurried off.

"She's going to be a heartbreaker," Mary said as Nena left.

"No, she's not," Colby said. "'Cause she's never going to date. When she hits puberty, I'm sending her to a nunnery."

"Get thee to a nunnery," Mary chuckled. "I can understand. But you'd miss out the fun parts of teenagehood, too."

"There are fun parts?"

"Oh, yeah, gathering blackmail material for adulthood."

Charlie and Colby laughed.

Charlie said, "We were planning on going off to lunch, pizza probably, afterwards. Would you like to join us?"

Mary leaned back in her chair. "Naw, I'm going to put up my feet."

"You have to eat," Charlie urged. "Let me get you the room service menu."

"Okay," Mary said without much resistance.

Charlie got up and began rummaging through the pile of folders on the desk.

"They have 24 hour room service," Colby assured her. "One of the reasons why we picked this hotel. Order and eat as much as you want, any time."

"Thank you," Mary said. "Room service has always been a special little treat for me. Maybe it's the mini salt and pepper shakers or maybe the almost naughtiness of eating on your bed."

"Indulge, please," Colby said. He hadn't stopped smiling since he'd felt the baby's kicking.

Charlie pressed the room service menu into Mary's hands.

She opened it but said, "I think I'll just order a sandwich – not much room for my stomach to expand these days – and watch some TV. It's like a vacation from housework and taking care of my family."

"Order pay-per-view, if you want."

Mary smiled at him with understanding. If she asked for the moon right now, Charlie and Colby would do their best to bring it to her. She'd talked with many other surrogates, and knew that some of them really took advantage of the intended parents, but she was the one who had to live with herself afterwards. She'd felt a little odd about the hotel room, especially booking for a week, but it did make sense. Their birthing center was just a five-minute drive away, as well.

Nena returned, holding a small box. It looked like a jewelry box and Mary sat up curiously. Nena handed it to Colby, who handed it to Charlie, who handed it to Mary.

Cautiously, Mary opened the box. Inside was a gold and diamond pendant. A four-leaf clover? No, four hearts, with their bottom points meeting at the center.

"You, uh …" Nena took the box from Mary and clicked a little latch on the top of the pendant and the pendant opened out to four hearts in a row. She showed it to Mary. "See? It's the four of us, our family with the baby, all together."

"You're making our family complete," Charlie said simply.

Mary blinked back tears. "That's very sweet, thank you."

"Do you like it?" Nena asked. "I helped pick it out."

"Yes, honey," Mary said huskily. "I like it a lot."

"See," Nena pulled a necklace out from underneath her shirt. She leaned forward, so Mary could see a pendant made of three interlinked hearts. "This is, was, our family now, before the baby's born."

Mary's eyes got considerably more watery, and she wiped them. "I get so emotional right now," she said weakly.

"Maybe we should have waited to give—" Colby started.

"No, no, it's wonderful," Mary said, pulling the necklace from the box. "Nena, help me put it on?"

"You want it opened out or closed?" Nena asked.

"Open, for now," Mary said.

Nena helped fasten the necklace around her throat. It rested against her shirt, looking oddly appropriate with her T-shirt and sweat pants.

"Thank you," Mary said again.

"You're very welcome," Charlie said. "Though it hardly balances out what you're doing for us."

Mary gave a wave of her hand, attempting to incorporate in a gesture the happiness that making their family complete would give her. Wiping her eyes again, she cleared her throat. "Didn't you say something about going out for pizza?

"Yeah, then we were going to –" Charlie stopped himself then said, "We can come back here and, um, keep you company after lunch."

"No need," Mary assured him. "I'd like some quiet. And _you_ need to take advantage of unfettered baby-free time while you have it. Go have some fun."

"We'll be close by, and you've got our cell phone numbers, right?" Charlie said.

Colby added, "The front desk knows to respond to any calls from this room as if they're from the President. If we can't get back here immediately, traffic or something, the manager will _personally_ drive you to the birthing center. Or the hospital if something doesn't feel right."

"I'll be—" Mary started.

Colby continued, "Make sure that you have a phone within reach at all times, so you can call 911 if you need to."

Mary laughed and shook her head. "Colby, I'll be fine. Every day, babies are born without incident."

"_Our_ baby isn't born every day!" Colby said stubbornly and Mary laughed again.

"I'll be fine," she said with as much confidence as she could put into her voice. "If you want, you can go by a bookstore and pick me up the latest J.D. Robb. Now, off with you."

Even with that admonition, it was twenty minutes before they left. They had to get her propped up in bed with every pillow in the room (and some from theirs), order room service so she wouldn't forget, get everything that she might possibly want within reach, and wedge the hotel door open so she wouldn't have to get up when the room service arrived. She shooed them out and sank back against the pillows.

Smiling tiredly, she put her hand on her belly. "Hurry up, baby. Your family is anxious to meet you."


	13. Arrival

**Part 13 – Arrival**

The next few days dragged for everyone. Colby, Charlie and Nena spent time with Mary, but she usually kicked them out after an hour or two, saying they made her 'twitchy'. They rented a car, picked up Evie from the airport and dropped her off at her friends'. Evie said that she was looking forward to spending time with her friends and they shouldn't 'worry' about calling her until the baby came.

So Colby, Charlie and Nena tried to keep themselves busy. They went to a farmer's market, a movie at an antique theater, and did a walking tour of downtown Portland. They ice-skated, roller-skated and mini-golfed. They visited the aquarium, the zoo, and the children's museum. They gazed down at the World's Smallest Park – a 2-ft diameter garden on a traffic median that was supposedly the home of leprechauns. There were several interesting-sounding places and activities that they passed on, since they didn't want to be too far from Mary.

They went to the massive Powell's Books and got the book Mary wanted, as well as some fiction for Nena and an encyclopedia of baby and toddler health for Colby. Charlie drooled (carefully) over a gorgeous, rare book on the golden ratio and the relationship between math, nature and art, but decided that he needed to save the money for diapers. Wandering around that store killed an afternoon, even if Charlie and Colby were constantly checking their cell phones. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry killed another afternoon, though they couldn't all go on the sub tour at once because the cell phones didn't get signal inside.

Whenever either of Colby or Charlie's phones did ring, all three of them got a jolt of adrenaline, but it was usually just Alan asking how things were going (or where Charlie put the extra Koi food) or Don and Will wanting an update.

Mary's due date passed and the next day as well. Everyone got heartily sick of restaurant food, hotel rooms, and tourist sites. Nena even missed school. Mary grew grouchier, but no one was ready to induce labor. As Mary said, the baby wasn't just ready yet. She said that with a growl, though, and a definite poke to her abdomen.

Around 2AM on the night two days after the due date, Colby was sitting up in bed, with the phone in his hand, and asking, "Mary, you okay?" before he was even aware that it had rung.

"It's time," Mary said tiredly. "Finally."

Colby threw aside the covers and started fumbling on his clothes while talking into the phone, "Are you having contractions?"

"About five minutes apart. Pretty strong."

"Your water break?

"Not sure."

"I'll be right there." Colby shut the phone and turned to Charlie. He was surprised to see his normally heavy-sleeping husband already opening his eyes.

"Mary's going into labor," Colby said to Charlie's questioning noise. "You know the plan. You awake enough?"

"Uh-huh," Charlie said. "Go!"

Colby slipped on his shoes, grabbed his car keys, and headed out of the bedroom.

Nena was standing in the living room in her nightdress. "It's happening?"

"Yes!" Colby said and gave her a quick hug and kiss. "See you later! Help Charlie if he forgets the plan. You know how he is when he first wakes up."

"I'm awake!" Charlie said behind him.

"Okay, going now," Colby said and raced out the door.

He took the stairs two at a time and hurried to Mary's door. She opened it before he could knock.

"You okay?" he said quickly, taking the small suitcase from her hands.

"Just get me to the church on time," Mary said then grimaced.

"Contraction?" Colby asked. He took Mary's arm and held her up until the contraction passed. Then he steered her out into the hall and shut her door.

"Yes," Mary said shortly.

Colby didn't say anything more, just headed with her towards the elevator.

In the lobby, they were met by the valet, which meant that Charlie had remembered at least the first part of the plan. The valet had brought their rental car around and Colby carefully helped Mary into it. The roads were quiet and dark at this time at night so he was able to drive quickly but safely without having to pull out his portable siren.

At the birth center, they were also waiting for him, and he mentally thanked Charlie again. _Though maybe it was Nena._

The attendants quickly whisked Mary away while Colby signed in. A brief flurry of activity with settling Mary in, finding out her dilation – 5 centimeters – then going back out to park the car somewhere other than the front sidewalk.

Then … he was waiting again.

He sat with Mary in a fairly nice, cozy, hotel-like room. The chair she sat in was more of a super lounger, though, than a usual hotel-room chair. They left the door open and saw people hurrying by.

"The rest of these people," Colby waved his hand, taking in the attendants and the entirety of the birth center. "They're all here for the baby. Me? I'm here to make _you_ more comfortable. Whatever you need."

Mary gave him a crooked smile. "I think I love you."

Colby chuckled. "Sorry, I'm taken."

"Too bad," Mary said. "Where is he?"

"He should be here soon. He's going to take the taxi that dropped off Evie to stay with Nena." He frowned, worried. "That's if he woke up enough to call." Then he relaxed. "It was three calls, Charlie always remembers threes."

Mary snorted a soft laugh. "I believe that. So if your job is to take care of me, what's his job?"

"Um," Colby said with a wry smirk, "To help me take care of you, of course, but also not to throw up or drive us crazy with statistics and odds."

"Good," Mary said, then reached out and grabbed Colby's hand. She squeezed tightly. Colby gently squeezed back, then waited for the contraction to pass.

"She's in here," someone said and Charlie rushed in.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked, his hair askew and his face flushed.

"No," Colby laughed, amused by his husband's frazzled looks. "We're just barely moving into active labor."

"Oh, okay, odds are that any difficulties will be in stage 2 of hard labor, anyway."

"I told you not to read that article about all the things that can go wrong!" Colby grumbled.

Charlie blinked at him. "But it was a fascinating example of the use of multiple logistic regression analysis to estimate odds ratios."

"Okay," Colby said, "but just keep it to yourself."

Charlie looked disgruntled then he perked up. "Oh, I meant to ask the nurse what procedures and in what order they address shoulder dystocia. Be right back."

Colby and Mary smiled at each other as Charlie hurried out of the room.

"We all deal how we can," Colby apologized.

"I know, I—" she said then interrupted herself with a grimace and a squeeze on Colby's hand. When she relaxed again, she finished. "I don't mind. I prefer too much preparation than too little."

"I think you'll find us both on the over-preparation side."

"Would have guessed that," she smiled. "So did you ever decide on a name?" She pushed the button on the chair to raise her feet.

"Daniel Alan or Matthew Alan for a boy. Eve Margaret or Lily Margaret for a girl."

"Charlie's math didn't narrow it down to just one?"

Colby shrugged. "It did, and Charlie's all for just going with Daniel or Eve, which were the best by the math, but I'd like to wait to meet the baby."

"Which I don't understand," Charlie said, coming back into the room. "The nurse said she'd talk to me in a minute about the shoulder dystocia."

"What don't you understand?" Mary said, shifting awkwardly. Colby quickly helped her adjust her pillow.

"This waiting thing for the name," Charlie said, sitting on the nearby bed. "I mean, we aren't going to be able to evaluate the baby's personality before we have to put something on the birth certificate. We considered going with what some traditions do and have a 'baby name' until the child can choose their own name, but decided that would be too confusing."

Mary looked at Colby. "How did you decide on Nena?"

Colby frowned uncomfortably. This wasn't something he liked to talk about, but it was important to humor and distract Mary.

Suddenly, he flashed back to many years ago, when everything that was his life now had started. He'd been kidnapped and dropped in a dark hole with Charlie, who at that time had been only a co-worker that Colby had admired from afar. Charlie, wounded and in shock, had been terrified of falling asleep. Colby had kept him awake by talking, including telling him about his four-year-old daughter, who he'd never told another soul about before that moment. Colby smiled to himself, thinking about the mixture of terror and tenderness he'd felt as he'd protected Charlie from further gunfire.

His smile moved to Charlie, now his lover and husband and co-parent.

Charlie smiled back. "I've wondered that, too."

Colby managed a casual shrug. "I wasn't actually there. Jenny was supposed to tell me when she went into labor but she didn't. It was a strong indication of exactly how much she was going to let me be involved in Nena's life."

Mary frowned, "I don't understand."

Charlie spoke up, and Colby gratefully let him explain. "Jenny and Colby weren't married but Colby got joint custody – Jenny let him because then he would send her money every month for Nena. But he only got to see her for one or two weeks a year, that was until Nena was almost five and Jenny suddenly decided to move to LA. She actually dumped Nena on us for two months – it was supposed to be a few days – and took off to Mexico."

"What?" Mary demanded. "That's crazy!"

Charlie shook his head. "What was crazy was what she did when she came back and found out that her daughter had been living with two gay men. She, uh, attacked me, threw rocks at me."

"No …"

"Yep, cops and FBI and everything. It was pretty crazy." Charlie shrugged dismissively, though Colby remembered how upset he'd been at the time. "Colby got a lawyer and worked up the custody agreement we have now."

"You should have taken her away from that woman!" Mary said stoutly.

Colby shook his head. "It's been good for her, mostly, to have her mom in her life."

"I had no idea," Mary said. "When you said that Nena was from a previous relationship …"

"Anyway," Colby said with a bit of forced cheerfulness. "I don't know where the name came from. By the time I met her, she was Nena Elizabeth Granger and that was it."

Mary nodded slowly.

"So I'm totally new to this baby thing, too," Colby finished.

"I see, I see …"

"But you'll get a chance to help decide the baby's name this time!" Charlie said firmly.

Colby gave him a grateful smile. "That's okay, Angel, whatever you decide. Somebody has to decide."

"Then why can't I decide now to go with Daniel or Eve?"

Chuckling, Colby shook his head. "Just humor me on this, ok? Wait until after the baby is born."

"Okay …" Charlie said, with his 'one of those unfathomable people things' tone of voice.

"Hi," said a voice from the door. It belonged to a tall woman in baby-bottle-patterned scrubs. "You wanted to know about our procedures for shoulder dystocia?"

"Yes," Charlie stood up. "But I'm under instructions to keep discussions of bad things that might happen 'to myself'." He moved towards the door. "Can we step out into the hall?"

The nurse and Charlie left the room and shut the door behind them.

"See, he learns," Colby said with a smile.

"There's gonna be a lot of learning to do in the next few months, _years_."

"I'll bet." He pulled a smaller chair closer to Mary's. "Now, let's forget about all that and let me tell you about all the touristy things we did in Portland that you'd never do because you live here."

Mary nodded and pressed the button to turn on the chair's back warmer.

The morning crawled on.

Around 7AM, Charlie left to call Alan and Don, to tell him that things were finally moving.

Mary's contractions grew in frequency and strength. Charlie stayed with her and Colby for as long as he could manage, then he'd have to go into another room and do some math to calm himself. He'd always come back apologetic and determined not to leave again.

Colby sat with Mary and fed her ice chips and chunks of frozen apple juice. When she felt like moving around, he walked with her up and down the halls and even out in the garden, his hand always on her arm in case she should stumble. He massaged her back and her feet, gave her hot washcloths and cool washcloths, and praised her efforts to the sky.

Mostly he waited and tried to keep her entertained and comfortable. He felt like the army medic, stationed behind the battle lines, taking in a wounded and dazed soldier, patching up her wounds, soothing her fears, firing up her bravery, then sending her back out to the front lines. He wanted to take her place in the fight, but she had her role and he had his, and all he could do was fulfill his duties to the best of his ability.

But at least he was here to help this time.

* * *

It was horrific. Blood and tears and bodily fluids.

It was frightening. Mary cried and screamed and even cursed.

It was enlightening. Colby was a real rock, and Charlie decided that if he was ever giving birth, he'd want Colby as his attendant.

It was embarrassing. Everyone staring at the area between Mary's legs, poking and prodding.

It was tiring. Charlie felt like he strained with every contraction, panted with every breath.

By the time that the cervix had dilated up to 10 centimeters and Mary was declared to be in 'hard labor' and moved to the birthing tub, twelve hours had passed and Charlie felt that he'd been in the birthing center for days, and running a marathon in place. He stared at the handheld Doppler device that was monitoring the baby and ran some simple equations through his head.

The end came fast and slow. Mary cried and pushed, an attendant stood in the birthing tub and called out instructions and progress notes, Colby helped Mary breathe and Charlie tried not to faint and distract everyone.

Suddenly, between one moment and the next, the top of the head appeared. Thick black curls covered with goop. Mary rested for a moment. Then she pushed, Charlie's stomach clenching in sympathy, and the head came out, followed by shoulders, and abruptly a fully-formed baby slid into the tub.

The attendant scooped the baby up. Charlie's knees wobbled and he grabbed the side of the tub. Mary cried out in triumph and Colby made a gasping sound.

"It's a boy!" the attendant said, wiping the baby down and checking him. "He looks wonderful!" As planned, she turned towards Charlie. "Come closer and hold out your arms, Daddy."

Charlie did, though his arms felt like wet noodles, and the attendant placed his newborn son in his arms. Charlie's whole body trembled and his heart seemed like it was being squeezed inside one tiny fist. He heard Colby draw a shuddering breath. Charlie looked at the red-blotched skin, clenched-tight eyes, sprig of dark hair, perfectly-shaped fingers and toes. He looked at his child, his son, their son, and said, "Hello, Gabriel."


	14. Next Steps

A/N: I know it's been almost two years since I updated this story, but I've been busy! In the intervening time I - underwent fertility treatments, got pregnant, miscarried, underwent fertility treatments again, got pregnant, discovered I was carrying twins, made it through the pregnancy, had emergency birth 6 weeks early, my two boys were in the hospital for a month, then I had a return hospital stay, and then survived the particular torture that is raising two babies at once. My boys turned one a few weeks ago, and here I am again!

* * *

Part 14 – Next Steps

After Charlie gave the newborn baby back to the attendant, the room faded into a blur of movements and noise. He felt like a fixed point in the middle of a vortex, like a still figure in a time-lapse video. People might have been talking to him, and he might even have responded. He wondered if he'd inhaled some anesthetic and hoped that his brain was recording the events so he could review them later. The baby was measured while lying on Mary's stomach, then she put him to each breast to stimulate her milk production.

Then Charlie was back in the room where they'd waited out Mary's early labor. He was sitting on the lounger chair with no memory of coming to this room.

The attendant who'd been at the birth poked her head through the doorway. "Charlie?"

"Uh?"

"Are you going to want him circumcised?"

"Yes." Charlie said. Then as her head disappeared he suddenly said, "_No! _ No, no."

She returned. "No?"

"Yes, I mean no." Charlie shook his head. "As in, you don't need to circumcise him. I will. I don't mean me personally, but—"

"I understand," the attendant said, though she clearly didn't, and left.

Charlie hunted around for his cell phone. He pressed the speed dial for 'home' and his father answered. "Dad, we forgot a bris!"

"A what?"

"A bris! Rabbi Tenbaum can do one, right?"

"What are you talking about? What's happening?"

"What do you mean? They just asked me if I wanted him circumcised and we'd—"

"It's a boy?"

"Of course it's a boy, Dad," Charlie said, trying to be patient. "Why else would we need him circumcised?"

"_Charlie_," Alan said with the particular tone of exasperation that everyone seemed to save for Charlie personally, "We've been sitting here for hours wondering what's going on! Everything went okay? It's a boy?"

"Didn't Colby call you?"

"No, nobody called us. The three of us were just discussing calling the birthing center and seeing if someone could give us an update."

"Oh, sorry, Dad!" Charlie said, finally understanding. "Cole probably thought I was going to call you and I thought he was."

"_So_?"

"Um, everything went just fine. It looked awful to me but I'm told that it was an 'easy' labor." He shuddered. "I held him just after he came out. Oh, his name's Gabriel, by the way."

"What? I thought it was going to be Daniel if it was a boy."

"It just seemed right, just came out. It's on the paperwork and everything now. Oh no, I never ran an analysis of 'Gabriel'! What if it has an awful rating?"

Alan laughed and then Charlie heard him relaying the news to Don and Will, who'd been waiting with him. Charlie winced. He couldn't believe that he'd forgotten to call his family. He had the sneaking suspicion that the task was on Colby's list with his name by it – and that Colby had told him this several times.

"Okay," Alan said, "More info!"

"He's got dark, curly hair."

"Of course! You came out with a full head of hair, too."

"No obvious deformities."

"Gooood."

"He was 3650 grams, or approximately eight pounds and one ounce, and 52 centimeters, or 20 and 1/2 inches long." Charlie blinked. He hadn't even been aware of hearing those numbers, though of course he remembered them. "That puts him in the 49.7 percentile for weight and the 74.7 percentile for length."

"What does _that_ mean?"

Charlie smiled. "Means that he's healthy and a little tall."

"Great! How's Mary?"

"Amazing, just amazing. And I never, ever want to watch a birth again."

Alan laughed. "I don't blame you."

"So a bris," Charlie said. "Rabbi Tenbaum does them? I want one with local anesthetic, not a drop of wine."

"I'll check into it," Alan promised. "How is Colby?"

"The most amazing man ever," Charlie said fervently. "I'm so lucky."

"Yes, Charlie, yes, you are. How did—"

"Oh, Colby's here, gotta go!" Charlie ended the call and tossed the phone onto the nearby table.

Colby had just come through the door, looking tired.

Charlie almost leapt at him, grabbing the front of his shirt. "Cole, I almost screwed up big time and had them circumcise him!"

Colby looked confused for a second and then said, "Oh, instead of having a rabbi do it."

"Yes! It could have been disastrous!"

"Hardly."

Charlie insisted, "But in Jewish tradition—"

"I'm sure there's a way to deal with that kind of situation under Jewish law. There is for everything else."

"But, but …" Charlie felt tears spring to his eyes. "He's not even a day old and already I'm almost messing up!"

Colby took Charlie's hands from his shirt and folded them inside his own larger ones. "Angel, listen to me. You're going to feel like you're messing up a lot of times as a parent. Everyone does. But just look at Nena. Her mother is lazy, selfish, and forgetful and look what a great kid Nena is. Do your best but remember that kids are very resilient. One little mistake – hey many little mistakes or even some big mistakes –is not going to turn him into a serial killer."

"But how can you know that?"

Colby gave him a wry smile. "You don't, you just gotta take it on faith. There's a lot of that in parenting, too."

"Ugh," Charlie said, pulling his hands out of Colby's grip and sitting back down on the lounge chair. "Ugh."

Colby's smile widened. "Starting to hit you, eh?"

"Yeah …"

"I can remember when I heard about Nena. 'Ton of bricks' doesn't really describe it."

"You didn't have the chance to prepare, I did."

"Doesn't matter," Colby said cheerfully. "No prep will be enough. Now, come on. You know how to be good daddy already, don't forget that."

"Not to a baby!"

"Me either, but you learn as you go, like everybody does."

Charlie was about to make some other protest – he had no idea what, just needed to protest something – when the door opened again and the attendant appeared, carrying a small white bundle with black curls peeking out the top. It was their baby, wrapped in a blanket with a tight complicated method that Charlie was proud to remember was called 'swaddling'. Something about being reassuring to a baby that had just left the confinement of the womb.

"Ready to give him his first meal?" the attendant asked. She didn't wait for a response – maybe she was used to new parents gaping at her like koi – but handed the bundle to Charlie.

Charlie made a squeak of protest, it wasn't fair for her to just _spring_ it on him like that, and carefully sat down with the baby on his lap.

"Um, hi again," Charlie said lamely.

The attendant then handed Charlie a tiny bottle, more of a syringe with a bottle nipple on top. It looked empty – no, there was perhaps an ounce of thick yellowish fluid in it.

"Is this all?" Charlie asked.

"It's 'first milk' breast milk, called colostrum," the attendant answered. "Think of it as taking medicine, you don't take a whole bottle of medicine. Besides, the baby's stomach is about the size of your thumbnail and he's never eaten anything before."

"Right, right," Charlie said. "I remember that now. Liquid gold. Why can't I remember anything?"

The attendant gave Charlie a sympathetic smile. "Would you like me to show you how?"

"No, no," he said then gave a forced laugh. "I'm guessing that this end goes into the mouth."

She nodded and watched as Charlie tried to settle the warm blanket-wrapped baby, _my baby_, on his lap. He got the head sort of cradled in the crook of his right arm and gripped the tiny bottle in his other hand. The baby – _Gabriel_ – had yet to open his eyes anytime that Charlie had seen. He didn't now, either, but as Charlie brought the nipple close, his little head moved against Charlie's arm and his mouth opened. Carefully, Charlie inserted the nipple and the baby closed his lips and began to suck.

A small amount off the tension left Charlie's shoulders as he realized that, while he might have no idea what he was doing, the baby did. He watched the baby – _Gabriel_ – slowly drink the precious colostrum that Mary had pumped for him. After a few minutes, the baby stopped sucking and the nipple slid from his mouth. Charlie held up the bottle and squinted at it.

"Did he take enough?" he asked the attendant.

She nodded and took the bottle from his hand. "Now just let him rest, he's had a big day."

"We all have," Charlie murmured.

The attendant left and Charlie remembered, belatedly, to ask Colby, "How is Mary?"

Colby smiled at him, his eyes showing his seemingly endless patience. "She's resting comfortably. She said that this labor was so smooth that she's considering doing the surrogate thing one more time. Then she laughed and said that was just the endorphins talking."

"That was _smooth_?" Charlie said with a grimace.

Colby shrugged. "Apparently. I hate to see a rough one."

"Me, too!"

Charlie was still looking up when Colby suddenly said, "Charlie, look at him!"

In alarm, Charlie looked down … only to be met by the gaze of two tiny, shockingly bright blue eyes.

"Oh!" Charlie breathed in amazement.

The baby looked solemnly up at him and Charlie leaned closer. _A newborn's focal length is only seven to twelve inches. _But the baby certainly appeared to be seeing him. He heard Colby kneel down before the chair. Colby touched the baby's cheek and the baby's eyes shifted to Colby.

"Hi there," Colby said softly. "We're your Daddies."

"Yeah," Charlie mumbled. "Daddies, us."

"He's here, Angel. Your baby is here."

Charlie looked up and said, almost angrily, "_Our_ baby, Cole, our baby."

Colby broke into a smile. "Yeah, yeah, _our_ baby. It was just that you wanted him so bad, I thought you might feel a little possessive."

"You wanted him too!"

"Yes, yes," Colby said reassuringly. "I did and I do, absolutely."

"I can't do this without you!"

"You won't have to."

"We're going to raise him together!" Charlie could hear his voice rising, but couldn't help it. "You and me!"

Colby put his hand on Charlie's cheek. "Charlie, together. You and me and Nena and Evie and Alan and Don and Will and the cats and our friends, all of us. But most of all, you and me."

"I know, I know. Sorry," Charlie grimaced. "I seem to be a little emotional."

Colby smiled with understanding and Charlie looked back down at the baby in his lap. The baby was looking at him again and Charlie managed to remember how to smile. _A focal length of only seven to twelve inches_, Charlie reminded himself, because this little baby seemed to be looking into Charlie's eyes and straight through to Charlie's soul. He hoped that the baby liked what he saw.

"You're not just a baby," Charlie said softly. "You're Gabriel Alan Eppes, born into a family that's been waiting for you. You have a great big sister, wonderful grandfather, fun uncles, and the best daddy in the world. And then there's me, who isn't a very good daddy—"

Colby made a scoffing sound.

"—but I'll try my best. Sometimes I forget to do things but I promise to love you a lot, change your diaper, teach you math and how to read and ride a horse – I don't know how to ride a horse but I'll learn and then teach you – but I'll always be your daddy, no matter what."

And at that frightening pronouncement, Gabriel closed his eyes and went to sleep.


	15. Big Sister

Part 15 – Big Sister

When Nena opened her eyes that morning, she wondered if the world had changed. Did it taste different? Smell different? Had _it_ happened?

Nena threw the blankets aside and hopped out of bed. When she opened the door of her hotel bedroom, she found Evie sitting in the common area of the suite, reading a book.

"Is the baby here?" she called, running into the room. "Is it here?"

Evie smiled and set down her book. "Not yet, sweetie. But it'll be soon."

"Daddy said it could take all day. Do you think it will take all day?"

"For Mary's sake, I hope not."

"Let's go!"

"Not until they call, remember? We don't want your dads to have to worry about us, too."

Nena frowned. She knew that had been the plan, but now she wanted to be there.

"How about we order breakfast from room service? Then you can take a shower?"

Nena grumbled, but the lure of room service was too much. Evie picked up the menu from the table next to her and held it towards Nena. She took it and started debating between French toast and pancakes.

Her world, which had been holding its breath for days now, would have to hold on a little while longer.

* * *

Nena had picked through every shred of breakfast, and was wearing the flowers off of the hallway carpets from her pacing, when the call finally came. She bolted back into the hotel room when she heard the phone.

Evie was smiling. "It's a boy!"

That took Nena back a little – had the baby decided already? – but she quickly recovered. "Let's go!"

"Yes," Evie said with relief and they went downstairs to find a taxi.

As they rode to the birthing center, Nena contemplated the baby's choice. A boy. She'd hoped to get the chance to make her case to the baby for it to be a girl, but she had sworn before that she'd be happy with either choice.

Nena was quite pleased with herself for figuring out the strange mystery of the baby's boy-or-girl-ness. She'd thought before that people came in two kinds – boys and girls. But then she found out that there were three possibilities for baby clothes and decorations – boy, girl, and 'unisex'. Boy stuff was blue, girl stuff was pink, and unisex stuff was yellow. Everyone in the family had referred to the baby as 'it' or 'he or she' and when Nena pressed them, said that they didn't know. So the baby must not be a boy or girl yet. Everyone Nena knew was a boy or a girl, but she didn't know any little babies, so the choice must be made pretty early. Nena was happy with herself for picking to be a girl. She liked pink, and girls could play with both cars and dolls, when boys could only play with cars. Maybe the baby's choice hadn't 'stuck' yet? She might still get a chance to convince it.

"Are you feeling anxious?" Evie asked her.

"Mostly excited, I think," she replied. "And happy that it's over."

"Oh, honey," Evie chuckled. "It's just getting started."

The birthing center was a lot nicer than a hospital. It felt more like a hotel with babies. Daddy met them in the lobby. He looked tired but happy, like when he'd been at work a long time but gotten the bad guy in the end.

"How's Mary?" Evie asked.

"Doing well," Daddy said. "Gabriel's already had his first meal."

"'Gabriel'? Not 'Daniel' or 'Matthew'?" Evie responded.

"What about 'Nonny'?" Nena asked, though she knew that Charlie had done math and rejected that name. 'Nena' and 'Nonny' just sounded good together.

Daddy shrugged. "I was all set for 'Daniel' and then the baby came out and Charlie said it was 'Gabriel'."

Evie smiled. "It happens that way sometimes. At least you didn't end up with 'Buddy' or 'Beautiful'."

"Someone named their kid 'Beautiful'?" Daddy asked.

"On the birth certificate," Evie replied.

"Wow, yeah," Daddy laughed. "But I think we more would have ended up with 'Thank-god-that's-over-and-I-can-go-faint-now'."

"Charlie didn't do well?"

"Oh, he did great. It was just afterwards that he sort of checked out."

"Mm," Evie nodded. "Is he with the baby, with Gabriel?"

"Yeah."

Evie took Nena's hand. "Okay, honey, let's go meet the new kid in the family."

Nena had been warned that the baby wouldn't look like those on TV, but she didn't think he looked too bad. At least from what she could see from the doorway. His skin was blotchy and his head was kind of a funny shape and with his huge eyes and big head he looked more like an alien than a baby, but not too bad. What struck her more, in her view from peeking out from behind Evie, was that he was so tiny. Did they not leave him in Mary long enough? It sure felt like years and years.

Charlie was sitting in a chair, holding the small baby bundle. A head full of black curls like Charlie's was resting on Charlie's arm.

"Come on over, sweetie," Daddy called from Charlie's side. "Come meet Gabriel."

"I'm fine," Nena said.

"You don't want to get a little bit closer?" Evie asked.

"Nope."

Charlie looked up at Daddy. "Maybe get her present?"

Nena couldn't help it, she perked up. "Present?" She was willing to be bribed, just a little.

"Right," Daddy said and went over to his bag. He pulled out a small wrapped package and handed it to her. She quickly tore it open. It was a white t-shirt with the word 'BIG' in huge, colorful letters and underneath that 'Sister' plus a flower and a butterfly.

"Thanks," she said to Daddy.

"It's from Gabriel."

"Um," she moved a little closer. "Thanks, Gabriel."

"Don't you have something for him, honey?" Daddy asked.

"Oh!" Nena said. "I forgot it at the hotel!"

"It's right here," Evie said, pulling the small package from her purse.

"Thanks," Nena said and took the package. She held it in Gabriel's general direction. "It's for you."

"You open it," Daddy said. "That's one of the privileges of being the big sister, you get to open his presents until he's old enough to do it."

"Oh," Nena said. That didn't sound too bad. She opened up the package that she'd wrapped several weeks ago. What was in it had been a secret between her and Uncle Don and Uncle Will. She held it up. It was a baby outfit with a cute little giraffe and it said, "I love my daddies".

"Look at that!" Charlie laughed. "That's great!"

"Very cute," Daddy agreed.

"He should put it on," Nena said.

"He's kind of wrapped up in this blanket," Daddy said reluctantly.

"How about we save it for the trip home?" Evie asked. "That way there won't be any questions about who the mother is."

Charlie grimaced. "Or maybe even more questions."

"Well …" Nena said. She'd been bothered by this issue. "What should I say when people ask who the mommy is?"

Daddy and Charlie looked at each other with the parents-brain-zap then Daddy said, "First you say, 'he's got two daddies and a big sister and grandpa and uncles, so he doesn't need a mommy.'"

"But—"

"If they push you _and_ you think that person has the right to know – I mean not some stranger in the grocery store but someone like our neighbor or your mom – say that it was a very generous anonymous woman."

"That we bought at the mommy store?"

Daddy winced. "We didn't buy her, she gave a gift to the clinic so people like us could be lucky and have children."

"But didn't you pay lots of money?" There had definitely been some tension around the house about money, and she knew that Charlie had taken out a 'second mortgage', whatever that was.

Daddy said firmly, "What we paid the money for was the doctors and hospitals and for Mary to not have to work while she carried the baby. There was no 'buying' the baby."

"Oh," Nena said, though she was unsure. If you gave people lots of money and they gave you a baby, didn't that mean you bought the baby? That didn't seem like a bad thing, but Daddy and Charlie seemed to think so. She decided that it was a grown-up thing and dropped it. "Can we go home now?"

"No, honey," Daddy said. "You remember that we need to stay here for a few days while the baby gets the special milk from Mary."

Nena remembered being told this, but was a little fuzzy on the reasons and details. "Can we at least go back to the hotel? Everybody?"

"Later today," Daddy promised. "As soon as we make sure that Mary can leave and that Gabriel is okay, too."

"Is something wrong with Mary?"

"No, she just had to do a lot of work to help the doctors get the baby out. She's very tired."

Nena frowned, but didn't really want to know any more. She liked Mary and didn't like the idea of her with pain and blood and yucky stuff, like Daddy had described. She searched for something else she could do. "Can I go down to the cafeteria?"

"This isn't the hospital," Daddy said. "They don't have a cafeteria here. There's some vending machines, I think."

"Okay," she pulled on Evie's hand. "Let's go do that."

"Don't you want to spend any time with Gabriel?" Daddy asked.

Nena looked at the little baby, with his tiny nose and wrapped-up body and shrugged. "He's asleep. And he doesn't play yet, anyway." She held up her new shirt. "I'll go put this on."

"Okay, honey," Daddy said with his worried voice. But it wasn't his really-worried voice, so Nena felt like she could safely leave him with Charlie and Gabriel.

"C'mon," Nena said, pulling Evie towards the door. "Let's go see if the machine has peanut M&M's."


	16. Melting

**Part 16 – Melting**

Colby considered himself a tough guy, a man's man, a soldier, but he turned into a pile of goo every time he saw Charlie holding their baby. He'd have been happy with a bald little girl or a blond chubby boy, but a baby looking like a mini-Charlie completely melted him. He wanted to snuggle them both and make embarrassing 'goo-goo' noises. He forced himself to take a deep breath.

"How are you doing?" he asked Charlie, who had been sitting and holding Gabriel for the last hour.

"My arm is numb," Charlie said out of the side of his mouth. "But he's asleep and I'm afraid to move."

Colby chuckled – quietly. "You can shift and he'll probably resettle. Or just hand him to me."

Awkwardly, Charlie handed Gabriel off to Colby, then Charlie grimaced and shook out his hand. Gabriel stirred briefly then snuggled into Colby's embrace. Colby melted just a bit more.

It had been a while since Colby had held a baby, but his arms seemed to remember what to do. With all his younger brothers and sisters, he'd gotten a lot of practice. He wondered if he could still do speed-diapering, a technique that he'd developed when his youngest brother, Mike, had gone through a nasty diarrhea phase.

At the thought of his brother, Colby frowned. He still sent Christmas cards every year but never received any back. He was just as estranged with his family as ever. Could little Gabriel be a way back in? Wouldn't his mother be thrilled with another grandchild, regardless of his origin? Maybe not, since she'd never made any effort to contact Nena, when one look at Nena's picture would show she was Colby's biological child.

He sighed, but that also reminded him of Nena and her less than enthusiastic greeting to her new little brother. Well, he and Charlie had prepared her as best as they could. It was bound to be a shock to her, since she was used to being the only child and total darling of the whole extended family. She'd come around, she was a generous girl at heart. Colby hoped that there wouldn't be much direct sibling rivalry between Nena and Gabriel, since they were such different ages. He remembered the lengths he had gone to show he was better at _anything_ than his sister LeeAnn, who was just a year older than he was. He wondered if she still lived in Connecticut, and if she ever thought about her bratty younger brother.

Tears came to his eyes and he blinked them back. Charlie wasn't the only one feeling emotional. They should at least send out a birth announcement to the last known addresses of all his family. They had a birth announcement design already picked out. It was just waiting for the details of the birth and a photograph. _Right, I need to see to that._

"You ready to take him back?" he asked Charlie.

Nodding, Charlie held out his hands. Colby settled Gabriel back into Charlie's arms and Charlie smiled down at the baby. Colby wiped more moisture from his eyes and draped a blanket over them both. Then he went to deal with Day of Birth List, Subcategory 3, Item #18.

* * *

Colby kept his face completely free of a smile as he watched Charlie struggle to diaper Gabriel. A birth center attendant was hovering nearby, probably to swoop in if Charlie tried to diaper Gabriel's head.

"It's like origami," Colby said. "You're good at that."

"Origami doesn't wiggle," Charlie said grumpily. "And it doesn't have tabs that stick to everything but what they're supposed to."

"If you think he's wiggly now," Colby said, finally letting himself smile. "Just wait until he starts to roll over."

"Everyone keeps saying that," Charlie snapped. "'Just wait', 'just wait'. I'm still trying to deal with 'right now'."

Colby's smile vanished. "I'm sorry, Angel," he said putting his hand on Charlie's hunched shoulder. "You've just got to lift his butt up a little more to slide the diaper underneath."

"Are you sure I won't hurt him?"

The attendant spoke up, "Babies are pretty darn tough. They may not look it, but they have to be tough to survive getting born."

"True," Colby said with a grimace and Charlie looked a little green at the memory.

"Put tons of diaper cream on him," the attendant reminded Charlie. "You don't want to be scraping meconium off of his skin."

"Maybe I'll just leave those diapers to Colby," Charlie said faintly.

"Wimp," Colby teased gently, with a squeeze to Charlie's shoulder.

"That's me."

"No, c'mon, Dr. Eppes," Colby said. "The baby's first bowel movements where they're getting rid of all that blood and stuff would make any strong man quail."

"You're not."

"I am on the inside," Colby said and kissed Charlie on the head, then looked down at Gabriel. "He's probably hungry now."

"How can you tell?" Charlie asked plaintively.

"I can't really," Colby shrugged. "Just that newborn babies pretty much sleep, eat, and poop. He's awake and just got a clean diaper, so …"

"So, it stands to reason," Charlie completed and then sighed. "How am I going to do this?"

"By doing it," Colby responded simply, then gave Charlie a small shake. "Now, where's my confident, superstar genius husband?"

"I think he's back at the hotel," Charlie mumbled but his shoulders relaxed a little.

"Then why don't we take Gabriel back to the hotel to meet him? We can pick up some milk from Mary now, then come back this afternoon for more milk and our lesson on giving him a bath."

"More wiggling, and with a wet baby," Charlie said with a shake of his head. "Is the car seat all installed?"

"Installed so tightly that we're going to have trouble getting it out of the rental car again."

Charlie frowned. "Are you sure? Should we go to a fire station to have it inspected?"

"Positive. We can get it checked after we install it in the car at home."

"We have to make it through the plane flight first."

Colby put his cheek against Charlie's hair. "One thing at a time, Daddy Charlie. That's all you can ever do."

"Not according to the latest theories of physics—"

"I meant in the practical world," Colby said quickly.

"Stupid practical world," Charlie grumbled, but it was with a smile.

"How about I finish with Gabriel's diaper and swaddle him, while you go track down Nena and Evie?"

Charlie nodded and quickly stepped back to let Colby take over. Colby held on to the baby while he watched Charlie scoot out of the room. The attendant then moved away, obviously confident that the baby was in good hands.

Colby leaned over Gabriel and murmured, "Don't worry, buddy. You and me will train him yet."

* * *

After checking in on Mary – she was sleeping but a bottle of pumped breast milk was waiting for him – Colby found Charlie, Nena, and Evie in the waiting room. Nena was trying to explain percentages to Evie using M&Ms and Fruity Bears. Charlie was gnawing on one knuckle but managing to stay quiet.

"Good job not interrupting," Colby said quietly while pulling the knuckle out of Charlie's mouth. "But you're breaking the skin."

Charlie frowned in surprise at his bleeding knuckle and Nena looked up.

"Did I do it right, Charlie?" she asked.

"Well, you left out—" Charlie started then cleared his throat and put his damaged hand behind his back. "Yes, yes, excellent job."

Nena beamed at him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to go through it again, dear," Evie said. "I'm a little slow."

"Later," Colby said as Nena began to gather up her candy props to demonstrate again. "Would you like to help me feed your little brother?"

"Okay," Nena said with little enthusiasm. "He just eats milk, right?"

"Right, for the first few months."

"'Few months'?" Charlie asked. "But the AAP states that—"

"We'll talk about it later, Charlie," Colby said automatically and reached out a hand to Nena. "C'mon, honey, Gabriel's hungry."

Nena scooped the rest of the candy and dumped it into her pocket then took Colby's hand. Her small hand felt so big after just holding Gabriel's tiny one. Colby swallowed against more 'moisture' in his eyes. He really was mush right now, but decided to give himself a little bit of a pass, just for today.

When they got to the nursery, Gabriel was still awake and waving his arms. He'd broken out of his swaddle blanket already.

"You're going to be an active one, aren't you?" Evie said warmly, putting her finger in Gabriel's palm so that his tiny hand gripped it.

"I'll do the bottle," Nena said, taking it from Colby's hand.

"Hang on," Colby said quickly and took it back. He unscrewed the cap, opened the package with the sterile nipple, and attached it. He made sure it was tight, then motioned with the bottle towards the rocking chair. "First, sit down."

Nena sat down and Colby gave her a cloth to cover her shirt. He then picked up Gabriel and laid him in Nena's arms.

"He's heavy!" Nena said.

"Much heavier than your baby dolls," Colby agreed. "Now support his head better, there."

When he was happy with the way Gabriel was situated, Colby held out the bottle to Nena. "He'll do the drinking, but you'll need to hold the bottle."

"Can't really do much, can you?" Nena said to Gabriel, but her tone was thoughtful rather than accusatory.

"Not yet, but he'll be learning things every day." Colby adjusted the bottle in Nena's hand and Gabriel began to suck on it. Gabriel opened his eyes and looked up at Nena.

"He's got blue eyes," Nena said in surprise.

"For now," Colby said. "That might change."

"Right, right," Nena said. "Of course."

Colby silently hoped that they'd stay blue. He was already helpless against one pair of big, brown eyes, he didn't need a second. _Though I doubt the eye color will make any difference._

He smiled down at Nena feeding Gabriel, then he suddenly dug in his pocket for his camera. There were many images he was going to want to capture over the next few days, months, years, but this one, he hoped, would be a picture of the start of a wonderful friendship.


	17. Homecoming

**A/N:** Finished! Just took me 2-1/2 years! That's even longer than it took me to get my own babies! *g*

* * *

**Part 17 – Homecoming**

Don checked his watch again then went back to tossing flower petals at his cats. Monster batted at a few but mostly let them settle on his fur, then twitched them off. Dragon just gave an occasional flick of his tail and was otherwise slowly being buried under pink rose petals. The cats were as distracted as everyone else.

Colby and Charlie had specifically said they _didn't_ want a party when they brought home their new baby. They would have all been travelling and would just want to crash. The baby would undoubtedly be grouchy after his or her first plane flight. But Don had to be here, of course, and Will, and the cats always came over to the house with them. Then Don had mentioned it to David, who had showed up with Matt, and Charlie must have called Larry because he and Megan had come over. Larry must have let it slip to Amita, because she was here with her physics department husband, Joseph Saha, and their toddler, Ojas. Megan had called earlier, asking if they could bring anything, and she'd talked to David, who'd talked to …

Somehow they'd ended up with a party, complete with snacks, drinks and cake, and a banner across the front door that said, 'Welcome Home Baby Eppes'. Don suspected that Megan had ordered the banner weeks ago, since it was personalized with name but not gender, but he didn't call her on it. Everyone was excited about the newest addition to their extended family and Don wasn't going to spoil the fun. Don half-expected Coop to come strolling through the door, though he was in D.C. at the moment and, anyway, avoided family events like the plague.

Don let everyone set up the party and just told his dad that he better explain to Charlie and Colby when he picked them up from the airport.

"Stop looking at your watch," Will said from the patio chair next to him. Will was sitting slumped down in the chair, with his legs stretched out and his eyes closed. He was in the middle of a week of all-night undercover teaching sessions, but he wasn't going to miss this either.

"How did you know I was looking at my watch?" Don asked with a wry grumble. "Your 'keen detective senses'?"

Will chuckled and opened his eyes. "No, just good odds." He stretched and looked around. "They should be here soon."

"Soon," Don agreed. "Dad probably saved a half-hour by having his 'grandpa's car seat' already installed in his car."

"It only took us two hours to do it," Will replied.

"Yeah," Don said and tossed his remaining handful of flower petals at the cats. At the floral onslaught, both cats jumped up, shook themselves off, and padded into the house. Don and Will followed, then stopped to take in the tableau before them.

Ojas, Amita's boy, was toddling around in that stiff-legged, arms-out Frankenstein's Monster walk. He would head in one direction, bounce off a person or piece of furniture or some invisible obstacle, and then head in another direction. Larry and Joseph were watching him and estimating possible trajectories based on physics. Amita and Matt were discussing the difficulties of writing a computer program to model Oja's walking path. David and Megan were enjoying some red wine, with David on the couch next to Matt and Megan standing by the window.

"Look at David and Matt," Will said under his breath.

Don looked closer and saw that David had his arm around Matt's shoulder – in public, with strangers around – and Matt didn't seem to be minding at all. In fact, Matt was leaning a little towards David and the hand of Matt's, the one that wasn't waving in the air as he talked, was resting on David's knee. Don gave Will a subtle thumbs-up and a smile.

"They're here!" Megan called.

Amita, Matt and Joseph immediately stopped talking and stood up, but Larry continued unabated, "… the degree of angular displacement is affected by linear elasticity, as I'm sure you're aware, but—"

"Larry, they're here," Megan repeated and the physicist stopped talking and blinked at her.

"Who? Oh, right," Larry said. "I was merely stating that—"

Whatever else Larry was 'merely stating' was lost in the general rush of people towards the front door. By the time Don scooped up Ojas and give him to his father, and then made his way through the others, Colby and Charlie were already getting out of the car.

Colby looked tired but energized, just like he did after a successful raid, especially one that involved shooting. Charlie looked somewhat dazed and disoriented. Nena got out, looking grumpy.

"Nena!" Will called.

Nena perked up and ran to Will. Will lifted her up into the air.

"I haven't seen you in ages," Will said, setting her down again and giving her a big hug. "Did you bring anything back from Portland?"

Nena grinned at him. "A t-shirt."

Will grinned back. "Is that all?"

"No," Nena laughed. "Some chocolate."

"Anything else?"

Meanwhile, Alan had climbed out of the car, a big smile on his face. Colby and Charlie ducked back in the car and Charlie came back out with a small bundle.

Charlie had hardly set foot on the sidewalk when he was surrounded. Everyone wanted to see the baby, even Ojas. Charlie pulled aside a flap of blanket and there he was, little and cute and very much an Eppes.

"Whoa, déjà vu, Dad," Don said.

"Yes!" Alan beamed. "He looks just like Charlie when we brought him home."

"The worst day of my life," Don teased. He made his way through the crowd to put his arm around Charlie.

"Good job, bro," Don said with a squeeze. "How was the plane trip?"

"Loud," Nena said from her where she was standing and swinging on Will's hands.

"He didn't like it?" Don asked.

"Take-off was the worst," Colby said. "We had the bottle ready in time for landing."

"Did—Hey, where's Evie?"

"Dropped her off at her place," Alan said. "She'll unpack and be over later."

"After the party …" Charlie said pointedly.

Don winced and looked at all the people cooing and commenting over the baby. "We just all wanted to share in your homecoming."

"So, maybe we could go _inside_ then?"

"Oo, grouchy," Don said. "It must be a whole 70 degrees out here, too cold for a baby."

Charlie glared at him and Don grimaced an apology and said, "Inside everyone." He knew that Charlie had to be feeling stressed and stung-out and he wasn't helping. _I can be a better uncle than that!_

"Go ahead," Don told Charlie and Colby. "I'll get the suitcases."

"We want to hear the whole story of his arrival!" Megan said. "We've just heard pieces."

"Okay, maybe not the _whole_ story," David said. "There are parts I'd be happy to never know."

"Me, too," Matt said with feeling. Everyone laughed and people started to make their way back inside.

"There's cake," Will told Nena.

Nena instantly let go of Will and wormed her way through the others to get inside as fast as possible.

"You haven't had lunch yet!" Colby called, then gave an all-purpose shrug and shepherded Charlie and the baby inside.

"Worst day of your life, eh?" Will asked Don quietly.

"I thought that way for a while, yeah," Don admitted, then grinned. "But the little brat is starting to grow on me."

"It's just taken thirty-plus years?"

"I promise not to take as long with the new one." Don pulled out one heavy suitcase, set in down on the sidewalk and reached for another. "What are the odds that he'll be another Charlie?"

"No one is ever a copy of another person. Parents have tried. Really hard."

Don grimaced at the reminder of Will's childhood but continued, "I mean, what are the odds that he'll be a math genius?"

"Pretty darn small."

"But not zero."

"No. Maybe this genetics place they used will find out how much 'math' passes on through genes."

"True." Don hefted an ugly diaper bag over one shoulder and then grinned. "It would serve Charlie right, though, to get a super genius and have to deal with that."

"Maybe he'll be a superstar basketball player."

Don laughed, shifted the diaper bag and picked up a suitcase. "With Eppes genes? Not gonna happen."

Will took two suitcases and they made their way up the sidewalk. "He could be a superstar FBI agent."

"Oh, man," Don said, shaking his head. "Wouldn't Dad love that!"

Inside the house, the party was just getting started. Nena was hovering around the cake with a cake knife, moaning that she was 'dying of hunger'. David and Joseph were bringing out a pile of presents while Amita was trying to get some small object away from Ojas. Megan was holding Gabriel and Larry was, for some reason, talking about wormholes. Alan and Matt were bringing in extra chairs for the dining room table.

"Looks like things aren't going to quiet down here anytime soon," Don said wryly. Will started to respond and Don continued, "I know, I know. It's just going to get louder. "

Will grinned. "I think the cats are hiding."

* * *

Charlie stood in the semi-darkness of the nursery and watched Gabriel sleep. The tiny baby was exhausted from all the travel and noise. There was a reason why they hadn't wanted a party, but it seemed to have worked out okay. Gabriel hadn't minded being passed around for the first hour of the party, especially when whoever held him also held a bottle. Eventually he'd started fussing and Charlie had whisked him away from the visitors and introduced him to the nursery. He'd been unimpressed with the mural and other decorations but had liked Charlie rocking him in the rocking chair. Colby had come in and turned off all the lights but a small nightlight and then had turned on some soft music for white noise. When Gabriel had fallen asleep, Colby had gently lifted him out of Charlie's arms and settled him in his crib. Both Charlie and Colby had held their breaths for a minute until it seemed like the transfer had been successful.

"Goodnight, Gabriel," Charlie whispered as they watched the baby settle. "Your daddies love you."

Colby wrapped his arms around Charlie from behind. "It's an amazing thing we've done," Colby murmured in Charlie's ear.

"We had a lot of help," Charlie whispered back.

"We still will, Angel," Colby said, tightening his arms. "But he's ours. That's pretty amazing, I think."

"Yeah." Charlie leaned back against Colby. In a few hours, Gabriel would wake up and cry and demand some more milk and probably have one of those nasty, smelly diapers. Colby and Charlie would be neck-deep in it then, no room-service, midday naps or helpful birth-center attendants. They'd both have to get back to work to pay for the bills they'd been accumulating and would continue to accumulate. Colby would have to resist getting Nena everything that caught his eye. Charlie would need to be more aggressive than he'd like in going after grants and publications. They'd both sacrifice some of the niceties and comforts of life for a while, but Charlie knew that would be the last thing on their mind for quite some time.

"Remember this moment," Colby said softly, reading Charlie's mind like only he could. "The night we brought Gabriel home. The night we added the missing piece to our family."

"Love you," Charlie whispered, gripping Colby's hands in his own. "More and more each day."

"Infinity plus one," Colby murmured.

Charlie chuckled under his breath. "You know I hate that phrase."

"Love you, too," Colby said and gave him another squeeze.

They stood like that, holding each other in the near-darkness with the soft strains of a lullaby washing over them. They stood silently, watching Gabriel's tiny chest rise and fall with each breath, and felt absolutely, utterly, complete.


End file.
